NEWS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

Chris Whitley, Public Affairs Officer - (816) 426-4213 - 408 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 - Kansas City, MO 64106-3149
Larry Scott, ATF Public Information Officer - (816) 421-3440 - ATF Kansas City Field Division

JULY 16, 2001
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

KINGSVILLE MAN SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON FOR POSSESSION OF FIREARM BY CONVICTED FELON

Kansas City, Mo. - The Office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri and the Kansas City Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced that a Kingsville man with at least nine prior felony criminal convictions was sentenced today to 24 years and five months in federal prison as a result of an incident last year in which he threatened three family members with a shotgun.

Gary Abernathy, 47, will not be eligible for parole from the sentence imposed this morning by Senior- U.S. District Judge Scott 0. Wright. Abernathy must also spend five years under supervised release after be gets out of prison, the court ordered.

Abernathy was indicted by a federal grand jury on one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, on November 15,2000. A federal trial jury convicted Abernathy of the charge on March 27, 2001.

Evidence presented at trial showed that on July 15, 2000, Abernathy used a Stevens .410 shotgun to threaten his wife, a son and stepson during a domestic dispute at his residence.

Abemathy's possession of any firearm would have been illegal at that time, as a result of his prior felony criminal convictions for assault with a dangerous weapon, grand larceny, escape, bad checks, forgery (three convictions), stealing and aggravated robbery.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce E. Clark. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Johnson County, Mo., Prosecutor's Office, and the Johnson County, Mo., Sheriff's Department.

Abernathy was prosecuted as part of the continuing Project Felon anti-crime initiative targeting persons who unlawfully use or possess guns. Project Felon is supported by Project Ceasefire, a separate but related multi-media public awareness campaign designed to prevent violence through the spread of messages that discourage the possession of firearms by persons with prior felony criminal convictions.

Since its launch in the October 1999 in the Western District of Missouri, Project Felon has resulted in federal charges against 203 defendants, and convictions against 167 of those defendants, including 157 who pleaded guilty and 10 who were convicted at trial. A total of 117 of the 167 convicted defendants have been sentenced, and 50 currently await sentencing hearings.

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