YAKIMA, WA — A Yakima man with a lengthy criminal history has been sentenced to more than 12 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington.
Chief U.S. District Judge Stanley A. Bastian sentenced 53-year-old David Allen Vickers to 150 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Vickers will also serve three years of supervised release following his prison term.
Court records show Vickers has been convicted of numerous offenses between 1991 and 2020, including burglary, assault, drug-related crimes, forgery, and prior firearm violations. In 2020, he was charged in state court with residential burglary, vehicle theft, attempting to elude law enforcement, and third-degree assault. He later entered a Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative program in May 2023.
The federal case stems from an incident on June 21, 2023, when Yakima police found Vickers asleep behind the wheel of a vehicle stopped on a roadway while he was under state supervision. Officers believed he was intoxicated and asked him to exit the vehicle. As he did so, an officer reported seeing Vickers toss a firearm into the back seat. A search warrant later led to the discovery of a loaded firearm in the vehicle and pills found in Vickers’ pocket. Authorities also learned Vickers had an active arrest warrant for violating conditions of his sentencing program.
A federal grand jury indicted Vickers in September 2023 on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He pleaded guilty on July 29, 2025. Despite objections from prosecutors, Vickers was released the same day. Within three weeks, authorities said he removed his GPS monitoring device and fled before being arrested by U.S. Marshals in early August 2025 in western Washington.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Yakima Police Department, Washington State Department of Corrections, and the U.S. Marshals Service. Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office handled the case.
