Felon sentenced to 10 years for possessing ammunition in Brooklyn shooting

Also found responsible for a 2020 convenience store shooting

September 20, 2024 Robert Abruzzese, Courthouse Editor

The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, more informally known as Brooklyn Federal Court, in Downtown Brooklyn. Photo: Rob Abruzzese/Brooklyn Eagle

Share this:

Leo Oliver, also known as “Gam,” was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison for possessing ammunition related to a 2021 shooting in Brooklyn. The sentencing took place on Wednesday in Brooklyn federal court before United States District Judge Dora Irizarry.

Oliver, 44, pleaded guilty to the charge in December 2023 and was also ordered to pay $12,000 in restitution to the victims.

The court also held Oliver responsible for a separate shooting that took place in 2020 inside a convenience store in East New York.

Surveillance footage shows Leo Oliver, wearing a white Adidas shirt, at the counter of a convenience store in East New York, holding a gun before firing at the store clerk during the 2020 shooting incident. Photos courtesy of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the EDNY

“Today, Oliver has been justly punished for the harm he inflicted upon two people in separate, callous shootings in Brooklyn,” said U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “Fortunately, these victims survived. My office will continue to work tirelessly with our federal and local law enforcement to reduce gun-related violence in our communities.”

On Sept. 25, 2021, following an argument on the sidewalk on Van Siclen Avenue in East New York, Oliver shot a victim, identified as “Victim-1” in court documents, in the torso before fleeing the scene on foot. Victim-1 was hospitalized with gunshot wounds, a lacerated spleen, and fractured ribs but survived. Two .380 shell casings were recovered at the scene.

Justice Irizarry also found Oliver responsible for a second shooting that occurred on July 8, 2020, inside an East New York convenience store.

During this incident, Oliver shot a worker, “Victim 2,” in the chest and hand following a dispute. Victim 2 suffered fractured ribs, lung bruising, and a fractured hand, leaving him unable to earn a living. A .380 shell casing was recovered from this scene as well.

After these shootings, Oliver took steps to destroy evidence, including deleting an image of two guns from his cell phone and throwing the handgun used in the 2020 shooting into the East River.

The defendant, originally from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, has a criminal history of at least seven felony convictions.