Thomas v. Commonwealth

BRAY, Judge.

Albert Ferguson Thomas (defendant) was convicted upon a plea of guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in violation of Code § 18.2-308.2. The evidence disclosed defendant had been previously convicted of burglary, a “violent felony” pursuant to Code § 17.1-805, 1 and the trial court sentenced him to the “minimum, mandatory term of imprisonment of five years” in accordance with Code § 18.2-308.2(A). On appeal, defendant challenges the sufficiency of the indictment to support the mandatory sentence, complaining the predicate “violent felon/’ was “an essential element…