By Mark Wilson
Evansville Courier & Press
EVANSVILLE, Ind. — A Memphis, Tennessee, man accused of pointing a loaded pistol at an Evansville police officer during a foot chase was sentenced to 30 years in prison Tuesday.
Vandeburgh Circuit Court Judge David Kiely denied Cornelius Ratliff’s request to delay his sentencing until next week so his family could attend.
In January, Ratliff, 30, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a serious violent felon, a class B felony, and resisting law enforcement, a class D felony.
Kiely sentenced Ratliff to the maximum 20-year sentence with an additional 10 years for being a habitual offender, which Ratliff also admitted to when he pleaded guilty. Kiely ordered a three-year sentence for the resisting law enforcement charge, which will be served concurrently.
The sentence was also ordered to be served consecutively to any federal criminal sentences. A federal grand jury indicted Ratliff for unlawful transportation of a firearm in April. Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Wheatley said Tuesday that prosecution of that charge will proceed now that the state case is concluded.
Ratliff was arrested after fleeing police on foot after the vehicle in which he was a passenger was stopped by officers on March 17 near the corner of Weinbach and Covert avenues. Police reported seeing narcotics in the vehicle and asked Ratliff and a passenger to exit the vehicle, according to court documents. Officers pursued Ratliff through some residential yards. At one point, Ratliff fell and pointed a 9mm handgun at one of the pursuing officers.
Just before Ratliff was arrested, he did not heed orders to drop the weapon, and instead threw it toward a nearby garage, according to court records. Later, the investigation revealed that the gun was loaded with a bullet in the chamber. However, the weapon’s safety was on during the chase.
Ratliff was released from prison in 2010 after serving a sentence for a second-degree murder conviction in Shelby County, Tennessee.
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