A Denver man, described as a “career criminal,” has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after police found him sleeping on the street with a loaded gun in his hand.
Roy Charles Cook, 47, also known as Roy Runningbear, was sentenced last Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn.
Cook was found to be a “felon in possession of a firearm and an armed career criminal,” according to a media release from the United States Attorney’s Office, District of Colorado.
Cook was indicted by a federal grand jury in Denver on December 1, 2008. He pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm on January 16, the release said.
He was sentenced Friday as an “Armed Career Criminal,” a sentencing enhancement, prosecutors said.
On Oct. 21 Denver emergency personnel responded to a call about a man in need of medical attention. Responders found Cook lying unconscious on the ground with a loaded .38 caliber revolver in his hand.
Cook, who “appeared intoxicated” at the time, was arrested.
The defendant has multiple felony convictions in Oklahoma, including burglary, robbery, concealing stolen property, distribution of a controlled substance, and unlawful possession of contraband, prosecutors said.
He began serving his lengthy sentence Friday.
Kieran Nicholson: 303-954-1822 or knicholson@denverpost.com.
