United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

CAREER CRIMINAL SENTENCED TO FIFTEEN
YEARS IMPRISONMENT FOR FIREARM POSSESSION

Rifle Discovered Following 2004 Burglary in Baylor County, Texas

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that defendant James M. Davis was sentenced today by United States Senior District Judge Jerry Buchmeyer to 15 years imprisonment for being a felon in possession of a firearm following a August 2, 2004 residential burglary. Because of Davis’s extensive criminal history, he was sentenced as an “armed career criminal,” an enhancement that more than doubled his sentence of imprisonment.

James M. Davis was arrested by officers with the Baylor County Sheriff’s Office on August 2, 2004. On that date, officers responded to a report of a burglary at a residence in Seymour, Texas. Based on the description given by the homeowner, the officers conducted a traffic stop of Davis’s vehicle, which contained property taken from the residence. Davis was placed under arrest for the burglary, and admitted to possessing a firearm in his vehicle’s trunk. The Baylor County officers recovered a loaded 7.62 x .45 caliber rifle and assorted rifle and shotgun ammunition from Davis’s vehicle. Davis pled guilty to the August, 2004 burglary on January 17, 2005, and was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.

Because of Davis’s extensive criminal history, his firearm case was adopted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and submitted for federal prosecution under the Project Safe Neighborhoods program, a nationwide effort aimed at reducing gun crime. Davis was subsequently indicted by a federal grand jury for being a felon in possession of a firearm, a violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). He pled guilty to the federal offense on July 11, 2006.

Judge Jerry Buchmeyer applied armed career criminal status to Davis because of Davis’s long history of violent criminal offenses. Before the burglary and unlawful firearm possession in 2004, Davis had already been convicted in Arizona of attempted burglary, aggravated robbery, and three separate instances of second degree burglary, during a criminal history that spanned over twenty years. Davis’s federal sentence will be served after he completes his term of imprisonment for the state burglary offense.

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper commended the investigative work of the Baylor County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan A. Konig.

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