Man gets six years for gun, meth found after scuffle with BART cop

A Bay Area resident was sentenced to six years in federal prison Wednesday — five for having drugs on him plus an additional year for carrying a gun on a BART train, where he was arrested after a scuffle with police.

Malcolm Cummings, 27, was sentenced at a Wednesday afternoon court hearing before U.S. District Judge Haywood Gilliam. Cummings had roughly 2 ounces of methamphetamine in numerous plastic baggies. He pleaded guilty last year to drug possession with intent to distribute. Gilliam rejected the prosecution’s request for an additional 18 months, noting that Cummings suffered a traumatic childhood that included homelessness and physical abuse.

Before he was sentenced, Cummings apologized for making a “horrible mistake.”

“I never expected to catch a federal case. I just have an addiction,” he said.

Cummings was arrested in September 2019 on an Oakland train bound for the Dublin/Pleasanton station, according to the criminal complaint against him. BART Officer DeJuan Johnson “observed Cummings in possession of several clear individually wrapped baggies of suspected heroin and suspected methamphetamine located to the immediate left of Cummings, on Cummings’ lap and within Cummings’ fingertips,” the filing states.

Johnson told Cummings he knew he had drugs, to which Cummings replied, “Sorry,” the complaint says. As the train pulled up to the Coliseum station, Johnson allegedly told Cummings to put his hands behind his back; Cummings responded by leaving the train and running away. The complaint says Cummings shoved Johnson and “struggled and fought” with him before being arrested.

Prosecutors argued that Cummings “introduced a significant danger to many people in the community” with his actions but agreed his difficult upbringing warranted a “mitigated” sentence. The d.efense argued that Cummings should have received the mandatory minimum of five years.