7yr Sentence For Former Hip Hop Artist Of The Year

PORTLAND, OR - U.S. District Judge Robert E. Jones has sentenced Nathan Paul Burke, a.k.a. “Kenny Mack,” 36, of Portland, Oregon to serve 90 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Upon his release from prison, he will also be required to serve three years of supervised release.

On August 7, 2009, Portland Police Officers assigned to the Gang Enforcement Team encountered the defendant at the Spare Room Tavern in Northeast Portland, Oregon. The police went to the bar to conduct a walk-through of the establishment due to some recent gang activity in the area, including a shooting. After observing the police enter the bar the defendant took off running and the officers gave chase. During a short foot pursuit the police observed the defendant ditch a loaded .45 caliber handgun, which they later recovered from a bush.

The defendant, a felon, had previous state convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and the delivery of a controlled substance. The defendant has recorded a number of albums and performs under the stage name “Kenny Mack.” In 2009, he was named the Artist of the Year at the West Coast Hip Hop Awards. On October 20, 2010, he pled guilty to the federal crime of felon in possession of a firearm. In the past, the defendant has been identified as an Inglewood Family Blood gang associate.

"The defendant’s prior convictions for drug dealing and unlawful use of a weapon should give anyone pause when considering the potential for harm that existed when he possessed a loaded gun,” noted U. S. Attorney Dwight C. Holton. “Whether to another person or himself, the dangers the defendant created were very real and his sentence reflects that.”

This case was investigated by the Portland Police Bureau’s Gang Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U. S. Attorney Scott Kerin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Gang Unit.