MURPHYSBORO MAN SENTENCED ON FIREARMS CONVICTION

A. Courtney Cox, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, announced today that on April 28, 2009, SINGLETARY V. JOHNSON, age 40, of Murphysboro, Illinois, was sentenced in United States District Court in Benton, Illinois. JOHNSON, who had previously pled guilty to a one-count indictment charging him with Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, was sentenced to 36 months’ imprisonment, 3 years’ supervised release, and was fined $200. JOHNSON's sentence was ordered to run consecutive to a sentence that JOHNSON is currently serving in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

The offense took place on August 27, 2008, in Jackson County. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Murphysboro Police Department, and Jackson County Sheriff’s Office pursuant to those agencies’ participation in the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. The goal of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative is to remove illegal guns and drugs from our communities. Under the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors are working together to prosecute drug dealers, felons in possession of firearms, and criminals that use firearms to commit violent offenses or drug trafficking offenses in the system that will get them the most time.

The case was assigned to Assistant United States Attorney Amanda A. Robertson for prosecution.