Tavon Burton, 21, of Gaithersburg, was sentenced to 15 years in prison Monday for his part in an armed assault following a confrontation during a drug deal.
Burton also was sentenced to five years of supervised probation after his prison term ends. Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Cheryl McCally requested that Burton be admitted to the Patuxent Youthful Offender Program while incarcerated.
Burton had pled guilty on July 24 to first degree assault concerning an Oct.10, 2022 incident in which he fired a gun at a 21-year-old male from whom he planned to purchase marijuana.
The victim told police that Burton attempted to give him counterfeit money and then they got into a confrontation.
As part of his plea bargain, Burton also pled guilty to an unrelated burglary charge from January 2021.
According to court documents, the Oct. 10, 2022 incident occurred in the 10100 block of Watkins Mill Place in Montgomery Village. Burton and the seller agreed to meet on a phone app so that Burton could buy four ounces of designer wrapper weed for $1,600.
When the seller accused Burton of paying with counterfeit money, Burton pulled out a small black Glock handgun, pointed it out the seller and said he was going to kill him. Burton also said, “don’t act like I won’t blow you up,” according to court records.
He then hit the seller with the handgun on the left side of his head, according to court records. The seller then fled the car they were both sitting in.
One spent 9mm shell casing was found by police near where the two men spoke inside the seller’s car.
According to the court’s statement of charges, at the time of his arrest, Burton had an active Pre-Trial Services Unit Bench Warrant through the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office for removing his ankle monitor. He had previously been arrested for burglary, auto theft and failure to appear in court.
