Felon gets prison time for guns, drugs

A Las Vegas man was sentenced to almost 13 years in prison and five years of supervised release Wednesday after pleading guilty to illegal firearm and cocaine possession charges, the Nevada U.S. attorney’s office said.

Ryan Walton, who also goes by the name Ryan McLemore, pleaded guilty in April to three counts of possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, two counts of cocaine possession and one count of using a firearm for drug trafficking activities.

According to the Nevada Department of Corrections, Walton has also gone by the names Lil Half Dead Walton and Lil Ryan Walton.

Walton, 32, was connected to a Las Vegas gang called the Gerson Park Kingsmen and has a history of drug, firearm and violent crime-related convictions, the attorney’s office said. In all, he had 11 prior convictions.

“Despite numerous, previous felony convictions, the defendant continued to endanger the community by possessing firearms in connection with violence and drug dealing,” Nevada U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden said.

According to Walton’s plea, his residence was searched by Las Vegas police in 2007 and officers found cocaine, drug paraphernalia and a gun. Several more of his convictions stemmed from a vehicle search in 2010, when parole officers found a slew of weaponry including two semi-automatic handguns, loaded magazines and body armor, along with drugs.

In 2012, Walton earned the last conviction by driving with a suspended license, the attorney’s office said. When officers searched his vehicle, they found two guns that had been reported as stolen.

Las Vegas and North Las Vegas police plus the FBI investigated Walton’s case, which was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cristina Silva.

Contact Annalise Little at alittle@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0391. Find her on Twitter: @annaliselittle_.