NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Norfolk jury convicted a man Thursday of being a violent felon in possession of a firearm after being caught with a gun during a traffic stop last year, according to the Norfolk Commonwealth’s Attorney’s office.

Zhari Vaughan, 27, had been previously convicted in 2014 in Norfolk of abduction, robbery and the use of a firearm in the commission of those felonies, and he was also convicted in Norfolk in 2019 of being a felon in possession of a firearm, and he faces a probation violation for his 2014 convictions.

Norfolk Police initiated a traffic stop for a speeding vehicle on Oct. 21, 2022, and Vaughn, who was in the passenger seat of the vehicle, left on foot after the vehicle pulled over in the 300 block of Warren Street in the Talbot Park neighborhood. There, officers witnessed Vaughan drop a black object on the ground before he ran off. It would later be identified as a handgun.

Court records indicate he was arrested the following day.

Vaughan is scheduled to be sentenced June 16.

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Gordon C. Ufkes prosecuted Vaughan’s case on behalf of the Commonwealth.