Date: 05-21-2015

Case Style: United States of America v. Ronnie Eugene Bishop

Case Number: 5:14-cr-00090-EEF-MLH

Judge: Elizabeth E. Foote

Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Texas (Caddo Parish)

Plaintiff's Attorney: Robert W. Gillespie Jr.

Defendant's Attorney: Betty Lee Marak - FPD

Description: SHREVEPORT, La. – A Shreveport man was sentenced to 210 months in prison as an Armed Career Offender for possessing a firearm after being convicted of multiple felonies. Ronnie Eugene Bishop, 39, of Shreveport, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote on two counts of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony. He was also sentenced to five years of supervised release. According to evidence presented at the December 9, 2014, guilty plea, Bishop pawned a 12-gauge shotgun on December 23, 2013, and a .270 caliber rifle on December 27, 2013, at the same pawn shop in Bossier City, La. Both firearms had been reported stolen by the owner. Prior to pawning the firearms, Bishop had multiple felony convictions and was sentenced as an Armed Career Offender. The mandatory minimum sentence for an Armed Career Offender is 15 years in prison.

To be found an Armed Career Offender under federal law, a defendant must have three previous convictions that are either a violent felony or a serious drug offense, or both, committed on occasions different from one another.A serious drug offense can be an offense under federal or state law if it involves the manufacturing, distributing or possessing with intent to manufacture or distribute a controlled substance for which a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years or more is prescribed by law.

“This defendant had multiple felony convictions and was prohibited by law from possessing a firearm; yet, he not only continued to possess them, but he was pawning stolen firearms,” Finley stated. “The safety and security of the community is our highest priority. This case is a result of a collaborative effort of federal and state agencies working together. I want to thank the ATF, Louisiana Department of Corrections, Probation and Parole Division, and the Assistant U.S. Attorney who worked on this case.”

The ATF and the Louisiana Department of Corrections Probation and Parole Division conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert W. Gillespie Jr. prosecuted the case as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which is a Department of Justice initiative with state and local authorities designed to reduce the possession of firearms by prohibited persons and the use of firearms to commit crimes.

Outcome: Shreveport man sentenced to 17 years in prison for possessing a firearm after felony convictions

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