San Francisco man, acquitted of possessing the bullet that killed his spouse, is sentenced to federal jail for subsequent gun possession
A man identified by police as 44-year-old Omar Pope stands near a parked car in San Francisco. (Northern California District Court Records)
SAN FRANCISCO — A townsman who lost his brother, son and wife in a series of tragic incidents has been sentenced to 41 months in prison, although he was acquitted of possession of the bullet that killed his wife in January, as of court records emerge.
The story of 44-year-old Omar Pope dates back to last year, when federal prosecutors charged him with two counts: in May 2022, being a felon and possessing a loaded gun, and in December 2021, possession of the bullet his wife killed when the couple fought over a handgun in their home.
Pope took the unusual step of pleading guilty to the May possession charge and bringing the second count to trial. Last January, a grand jury acquitted him of a felon in possession of ammunition, but Pope still faced federal prison time on the gun charge.
On Thursday, US District Judge William Alsup sentenced Pope to 41 months in federal prison, counting the time he has served in prison since his arrest in June 2022.
According to court records, Pope’s arrest was the culmination of a series of tragedies that began in mid-2020 when his brother died of COVID-19. Two months later, in August 2020, his 14-year-old son was killed after a car being driven by a relative struck a truck, court records show. Then, in December 2021, Pope’s 40-year-old wife was shot dead in a house on the 100 block of Dakota Street in San Francisco.
Pope told responding officers that his wife – still distraught over the death of their son – had repeatedly pointed the gun at herself and at Pope and threatened to kill both of them and other family members. He said when he tried to take the gun from her, they argued about it and it exploded. According to court records, she was fatally hit by a bullet and another hit Pope in the hand.
Five months later, in May 2022, Pope was caught with a gun stolen from Hayward, prosecutors said. US prosecutors pleaded for a 57-month sentence, arguing the series of tragedies in Pope’s life should have been a wake-up call and made his subsequent gun ownership even worse.
“Not a lot of criminal convictions. No significant prison sentence. Not the gunshot death of his wife. Not his own gunshot wound. Not the pain and suffering his daughter had to experience from the loss of her mother. None of this stopped Pope from possessing a stolen firearm in May 2022,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memo.
Pope’s attorney, Daniel Blank, argued that the tragedies were devastating for Pope, but pointed out that he claimed responsibility for the gun ownership in May 2022, months before he was tried on the other charges. Blank said in court filings that Pope felt the need to carry a gun for self-protection after surviving the harrowing experience of his wife’s death.
“It was these recent devastating losses, in addition to many previous ones, that led Mr. Pope to spiral into drug addiction and fueled a paranoia that made him feel he needed a firearm for his own protection,” Bank wrote.
If you or someone you know is struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline offers free 24-hour support, information and resources. Reach Lifeline at 988 or 800-273-8255 or visit 988lifeline.org.
