EAST ST. LOUIS – A district judge has sentenced a Belleville man to 20 years in prison after he was caught with a firearm as a convicted felon after a police chase in Washington County.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Illinois, in December, a federal jury convicted 46-year-old Michael Oliver, 46, of one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, Nashville Police Department officers tried to conduct a traffic stop on Oliver’s vehicle on July 5, 2024, but Oliver kept driving and tried to evade law enforcement.

Oliver took officers on a chase through the grass of the Perry County Courthouse. Deputies with the Perry County Sheriff’s Office tried to cut off Oliver in the roadway, and Oliver struck the police vehicle. Oliver then proceeded to flee on foot until his arrest.

Along the police chase route, officers located a Lorcin model L380 firearm Oliver discarded from his vehicle.

Oliver will serve four years of supervised release after his time in prison.

The Nashville Police Department and ATF contributed to the investigation.