The District’s top prosecutor discussed a new initiative Wednesday to bring more punitive federal charges against all ex-felons caught with firearms in the nation’s capital.
Acting U.S. Attorney Ed Martin announced his “Make America Safe Again” plan in an internal memo earlier this week, which instructs prosecutors to move all felon-in-possession cases in local D.C. Superior Court to federal District Court by March 19.
Mr. Martin said Superior Court cases with outstanding plea offers in felon-in-possession cases need to be revoked right away so they can be recharged in front of a federal judge.
Ex-felons convicted in federal gun possession cases can be sentenced to prison for five to nine years. In Superior Court, critics accused prosecutors of allowing defendants to plead down to less serious charges with little jail time.
“You and our law enforcement partners have achieved significant success in reducing violent crime in the District of Columbia,” Mr. Martin said in the memo. “Violent crime in the District of Columbia, however, is still unacceptably common.
“President Trump and Attorney General [Pam] Bondi have directed us to focus and redouble our efforts fighting violent crime. With their support and leadership, we must achieve more.”
The memo pointed to Justice Department guidance mandating prosecutors to take on these cases unless their supervisor gives them permission to drop the charges.
Mr. Martin also said all prosecutors must seek to have the defendants kept behind bars while their cases play out in court. If a judge allows a defendant to bond out, the prosecutors are required to immediately report the decision to their superiors.
Former U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves, who was the city’s top prosecutor during the Biden administration, caught flak for going easy on ex-cons caught with guns while he ran D.C.’s prosecutor’s office.
“If it goes to Superior Court, which is what Matt Graves has been doing, they drop the felon-in-possession charge and charge them with carrying a pistol without a license,” a former federal prosecutor told The Washington Times last fall. “But then they have the defendant plead guilty to having an unauthorized firearm or unauthorized ammunition, and the guy gets probation. It’s a joke.”
Metropolitan Police data shows violent crime is down 27% year-over-year, with sizable drops in robberies, weapons assaults and carjackings. But there is an 11% increase in homicides so far in 2025.
The District’s public safety situation has dramatically improved from a generational crime spike in 2023, when killings reached their highest numbers since the late 1990s.
