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Press Release

Columbia Man Sentenced for Illegal Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Missouri
 

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Columbia, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

James Douglas Cheek, 31, of Columbia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to five years and three months in federal prison without parole.

On Oct. 4, 2012, Cheek pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Cheek admitted that he was in possession of an FEG .45-caliber pistol on March 13, 2012. Law enforcement officers found Cheek, apparently asleep, sitting in the driver’s seat of a reported suspicious vehicle that was parked partially in a convenience store’s parking lot and partially in a yard. Cheek was arrested on outstanding warrants and officers found the loaded pistol on the driver’s side floor board of the car.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Cheek has prior felony convictions for assault, unlawful use of a weapon and leaving the scene of a motor vehicle accident.

This case is being prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Boone County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Updated January 8, 2015