Seattle Man Sentenced to 14 Years in Prison For Shooting Death During Drug Deal

Editor's note: This press release is from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle.

A Seattle man, with a prior murder conviction, was sentenced today to 14 years in prison for crimes that left another man dead during a drug deal. 

OMAR TWEEDY, 40, pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition, carrying and discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking crime, and possession of marijuana with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. 

TWEEDY shot and killed Tyrone Finkley on January 9, 2012, during a drug deal in South Seattle.  According to TWEEDY and other witnesses, Finkley pulled a gun and attempted to rob TWEEDY of the drugs he was selling.  TWEEDY claims he killed Finkley in self-defense. 

TWEEDY was indicted federally in March 2012 and he pleaded guilty in July 2012. 

Judge James L. Robart imposed the 14 year sentence saying, “Each crime the defendant is charged with is serious, combined they have produced tragedy…. (He) has now killed two people… (this sentence) needs to deter others and protect innocent bystanders.”        

“Our community is safer with this defendant off the streets,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan.  “We will enforce our gun laws to get violent criminals out of our community.  This case is a prime example of where we work closely with King County Prosecutors and Seattle Police to hold criminals accountable.” 

TWEEDY is barred from possessing firearms because of these prior felony convictions:Second Degree Murder, 1991; Possession of Cocaine, 2002; Delivery of Cocaine, 2002; and Possession of Cocaine, 2009.         

In asking for the 14 year sentence, prosecutors wrote that TWEEDY was well aware of the danger he created when he illegally carried a gun to his drug deals. 

“In 1990 Tweedy was convicted of Murder in the Second Degree after attempting to rob a drug dealer and then shooting and killing that individual.  Tweedy served eleven (11) years in state prison for this crime. Simply put: no one can have more direct, firsthand knowledge of the danger associated with dealing drugs, and the horrible consequences of mixing guns and drugs, than Tweedy,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.         

TWEEDY was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program.  Unveiled in May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is a comprehensive and strategic approach to gun law enforcement.  PSN is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking both new and existing local programs that target gun crime and then providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed.  Implementation at the local level -- in this case, in King County-- has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement.         

The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs.  Mr. Hobbs is a Senior Deputy King County Prosecutor, specially designated to prosecute gun crimes in federal court.