Abbeville man sentenced to 14 months in prison for lying on firearm purchasing form at pawnshop
United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Gene Williams III, 22, of Abbeville, Louisiana, was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Dee. D. Drell to 14 months in prison for lying on a firearms application. Williams was also sentenced to three years of supervised release to follow imprisonment.
Williams lied on an ATF Form 4473 on February 26, 2018 in order to purchase a Taurus, Model 740, Slim .40-caliber semi-automatic pistol at a pawnshop in Abbeville, Louisiana. Williams stated on the form that he had no felony charges pending against him when, in fact, at the time he had been charged in the 15thJudicial District Court of Louisiana with a variety of felony offenses, including drug possession, weapon possession, aggravated assault, and racketeering. Williams pleaded guilty in federal court on December 13, 2018 for the false statement he made on the ATF Form 4473.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). Project Safe Neighborhoods is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
The ATF conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Dominic Rossetti prosecuted the case.