NEWS RELEASE
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
WESTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA
John L. Brownlee United States Attorney Brian McGinn Public Affairs Specialist |
BB&T Building 310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906 Roanoke, Virginia 24011 (540) 857-2974 FAX (540) 857-2179 |
May 6, 2008
FUGITIVE APPREHENDED IN RICHLANDS PLEADS GUILTY TO POSSESSION OF A FIREARM BY A CONVICTED FELON
United States Attorney John L. Brownlee announced today that Tenner Rex Hickman, age 52, of Richlands, Virginia, pled guilty last week in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon, to one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.
According to evidence presented at last week’s guilty plea hearing by Special Assistant United States Attorney Dennis H. Lee, Hickman had been a fugitive from justice for the past six years after being convicted of felony charges in Texas. He was sentenced to 20 years of Federal Incarceration in regards to those charges but fled before serving any time.
Hickman was ultimately apprehended by officers from the Richlands Police Department and Tazewell County Narcotics Task Force on December 20, 2007 in the town of Richlands. Law Enforcement officers took the defendant into custody without incident. A subsequent search of Hickman’s residence uncovered a quantity of narcotics and a loaded handgun.
A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for Hickman on July 15, 2008 at 10:30 a.m. in United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon. At that hearing, if Hickman is determined to be an armed career criminal, he will face a minimum mandatory sentence of 15 years of Federal Incarceration and a maximum term of life imprisonment.
The investigation of this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Richlands Police Department and the Tazewell County Narcotics Task Force for the United States Attorney’s Office, Western District of Virginia. Special Assistant United States Attorney Dennis H. Lee is prosecuting the case.