United States Attorney Richard W. Moore announces that United States District Court Judge Kristi K. DuBose sentenced Dustin Lee McLellan on July 18, 2018 to serve a term of imprisonment of 180 months followed by 5 years of supervised release for the illegal possession of firearms as a convicted felon during two separate incidents occurring in 2016 and 2017.

On August 7, 2017, a federal jury found the defendant guilty of being a convicted felon in possession of a loaded firearm in Brewton, Alabama. The trial evidence in the case revealed that on March 22, 2017, police officers from the Brewton Police Department were on patrol in an area that was known for narcotics activity. While on patrol, the officers encountered the defendant, who appeared passed out in his Chevrolet Corvette. As the officers investigated the scene, they observed that the defendant was in possession of a loaded Davis Industries, model P32, .32 caliber, with one round in the chamber. Furthermore, the testimony elicited at trial established that the defendant was also in possession of methamphetamine and drug paraphernalia at the time of his arrest.

Subsequently, on October 23, 2017, the defendant entered a guilty plea for illegally possessing a loaded Highpoint, model C-9, 9mm in Atmore, Alabama on or about August 19, 2016.  The firearm was found as a result of a traffic stop.

The Court found that the defendant was an Armed Career Criminal under 18 U.S.C. § 924(e) because of his prior violent felony and serious drug offense convictions.  The defendant had two prior felony convictions in Alabama for first degree burglary and one for attempted manufacture of a controlled substance in the second degree.  As a result of his status as an Armed Career Criminal, the defendant was subject to a fifteen year mandatory minimum term of incarceration for his firearm convictions.  This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Brewton Police Department, and the Atmore Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Deputy Criminal Chief Assistant United States Attorney George F. May, Assistant United States Attorney Lawrence J. Bullard, and U. S. Department of Justice Trial Attorney Megan S. Lewis for the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.