McAlester Resident Sentenced For Illegally Possessing Firearm And Ammunition

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announced that Leslie Ray Upchurch, age 36, of McAlester, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 77 months in prison for one count Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.

The charge arose from an investigation by the McAlester Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On October 29, 2024, Upchurch pleaded guilty to the charge.  According to investigators, on April 28, 2023, Upchurch knowingly possessed a Ruger 9mm Luger caliber semi-automatic pistol and several rounds of 9mm Luger caliber ammunition after having been previously convicted of a crime punishable by more than one year imprisonment.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

The Honorable Ronald A. White, Chief U.S. District Judge in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Oklahoma, presided over the hearing.  Upchurch will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacob R. Parker represented the United States.