OAKLAND — An East Bay man was sentenced to a year and a day in prison for having a gun outside an East Oakland liquor store, a case that was taken on by federal prosecutors as part of a “surge” of enforcement in the city, court records show.
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Karmal Howard, 50, was sentenced on Aug. 25 by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Prosecutors say that on July 21, 2025, Oakland police arrested Howard with a gun, $7,800 cash, and an ounce of cocaine outside a liquor store on 23rd Avenue. His case was taken on as part of a federal enforcement surge, announced last month, aimed at curbing gun violence in Oakland.
The 366-day sentence was recommended by prosecutors and probation, court records show. The U.S. Attorney’s office filed court paperwork arguing for the sentence, which focused largely on the crimes of other people, now Howard — it mentions Oakland’s relatively high homicide rate compared to neighboring cities and the March mass shooting at an after-hours nightclub, arguing that Howard’s gun crime didn’t “happen in a vacuum.”
“The proliferation of illegal firearms amplifies the issue of violent crime, as robberies, burglaries, domestic violence incidents, or even routine altercations like road rage incidents, carry the potential to become deadly when the participants are armed,” a prosecution sentencing memo says. “Illegal firearms are also central to the challenge of gang violence, with groups of young armed people too often turning residential neighborhoods into combat zones.”
Howard couldn’t possess guns in part due to a robbery conviction from 2001, which he maintains was the result of false accusations. He was represented by the Innocence Project, who argued that not only was Howard not guilty but that the defense investigation had identified the true perpetrators. Despite this, his conviction was upheld, court records show.
Howard’s federal public defender also wrote in a sentencing memo that one of his loved ones had cooperated in a rape and murder case, resulting in death threats that affected Howard. In a letter to the court, Howard wrote that he takes full responsibility and is mad at himself for costing himself a union job through his arrest.
“I’m very guilty as charged,” Howard wrote. “I promise you that it won’t ever happen again.”
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