Sequoyah County Resident Sentenced For Federal Firearm Crime

MUSKOGEE, OKLAHOMA – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Oklahoma announces that Bobby Laymone Sanders, age 64, of Sallisaw, Oklahoma, was sentenced to 27 months imprisonment for illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The charge arose from an investigation by the Cherokee Nation Marshal Service and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On November 1, 2023, Sanders pleaded guilty to one count of Felon in Possession of Firearm and Ammunition.  According to investigators, on April 13, 2023, law enforcement discovered Sanders in possession of one .40 S&W caliber semi-automatic pistol and two rounds of ammunition during the execution of a search warrant at a home in Sallisaw.  At the time of the offense, Sanders had been convicted of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year and knew of such conviction.

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 sentencing hearing in Muskogee, Oklahoma.  Sanders will remain in the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending transportation to a designated United States Bureau of Prisons facility to serve a non-paroleable sentence of incarceration.

Assistant U.S. Attorney T. Cameron McEwen represented the United States.