United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

MAN SENTENCED TO 48 MONTHS
IN CABELA’S FIREARMS THEFT

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced today that Bobby Gene Pitcock, of Fort Worth, Texas, age 36, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Terry R. Means to 48 months imprisonment to be followed by a three year term of supervised release, in accordance with his guilty plea last December to one count of Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Pitcock was already in custody.

Cabela’s is a sporting goods chain of stores in the United States with a new store in north Fort Worth. During the early part of May, 2005, construction on Cabela’s in Fort Worth was not quite complete, so Cabela’s used a near-by commercial storage facility for the safe-keeping of approximately 1,300 firearms until the store was secure.

On May 14, 2005, Cabela’s employees discovered that many of their firearms were missing from a storage unit at the storage facility. Cabela’s employees immediately moved the remaining firearms to the completed Cabela’s store, and inventoried the loss of 75 firearms. The firearms ranged from ordinary handguns to rare collector’s rifles with retail values of up to $25,000 each. Cabela’s reported the missing firearms to the Fort Worth Police, who, later, transferred the firearms investigation to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

On July 21, 2005, the ATF received an anonymous letter identifying the defendant, Bobby Gene Pitcock, as having possession of the missing firearms from the inventory of Cabela’s. The letter further stated that the Cabela’s firearms would be located in unit #7 of the storage facility. The ATF learned that the defendant’s mother, Sandra Kennedy, was the manager of the storage facility, and that the defendant resided with his mother and his common-law wife in an apartmentlocated on the premises. The Agents confirmed that unit #7 was shut and locked, so they made contact with the owner of the storage facility who stated that unit #7 should have been unrented and empty, so he gave written consent for ATF Agents to enter the unit.

ATF agents searched unit #7 and found 71 of the 75 missing firearms from the Cabela’s inventory. Also, an additional 28 firearms from unknown sources were found in unit #7. Agents also received consent to search the defendant’s apartment bedroom. Agents found items in the bedroom which linked the defendant to unit #7, such as identification, foreign currency, and electronic equipment which had belonged to the previous occupants of unit #7. Agents also found a gray handbag in an air conditioning duct in the attic above Pitcock’s bedroom. The handbag contained the remaining 4 firearms missing from the inventory of Cabela’s. The defendant was solely responsible for storing the 75 Cabela’s firearms and the 28 additional firearms in unit #7, and for hiding the other 4 handguns in the attic.

Pitcock had previously been convicted of Burglary of a Habitation in 1995, in Tarrant County, Texas.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the ATF, and the Fort Worth Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bret Helmer.

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