31 Year-Old Yakima Man Sentenced to 7 Years Imprisonment for Being a Felon in Possession of Firearms Stolen From Fish and Wildlife Building

Yakima, Washington – On April 4, 2023, United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced
Alexander Scott Stevens, 31, a resident of Yakima, Washington, to seven years in federal prison
after his conviction for being a Felon in Possession of Firearms. Stevens will serve a three-year
term of court supervision after he is released from custody.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, on January 2, 2022, Yakima Police
Department (“YPD”) officers responded to an alarm that had been activated at the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife. Officers observed that someone had severed the chain link
fence and cut a hole in the exterior wall of the building. A subsequent inventory revealed that 18
firearms and a suppressor had been stolen from the Washington Department of Fish and
Wildlife. A YPD forensic investigator was able to develop a palm print impression that had been
left just above the hole in the exterior wall, and detectives confirmed that Stevens was the source
of the palm print impression. Given the number of firearms involved, YPD referred the case to
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (“ATF”) and the case was worked
jointly. On January 24, 2022, Stevens was taken into custody by YPD. A criminal complaint
was filed in federal court and Stevens was taken into custody. On February 15, 2022, a federal
Grand Jury returned an Indictment charging Stevens with being a Felon in Possession of
Firearms.

“This case highlights the force multiplier effects of local and federal law enforcement agencies
working closely together,” remarked Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern
District of Washington. “I commend YPD and ATF, whose hard work and effective
investigation resulted in Mr. Stevens being quickly apprehended, and 18 stolen guns being
removed from the hands of a convicted felon. The consistent collaboration of YPD and ATF
have made our neighborhoods and communities in Eastern Washington safer and stronger.”

“ATF will do what it takes to get stolen firearms off the streets,” said ATF Seattle Field Division
Special Agent in Charge Jonathan T. McPherson. “The brazen actions of Mr. Stevens truly
justify this sentence. It was no small thing to break into a state facility by cutting a hole in the
building or to steal more than a dozen firearms. As a convicted felon, Mr. Stevens was not
legally permitted to possess firearms in the first place.” 

“Gun violence is a prevalent and continuing threat to society,” stated Yakima Police Department
Chief Matthew Murray. “As we have seen all across the country, violent offenders are using
firearms to perpetrate violent crimes that range from robbery to murder. As a result of the
remarkable collaboration between state and federal partners in the Eastern District, justice has
again been served. I commend and continue to appreciate the partnerships between YPD, ATF,
the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.”

This case was prosecuted under the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program. PSN is a
federal, state, and local law enforcement collaboration to identify, investigate, and prosecute
individuals responsible for violent crimes in our neighborhoods. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is
partnering with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement to specifically identify the
criminals responsible for violent crime in the Eastern District of Washington and pursue criminal
prosecution.

This case was investigated by the Yakima Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco,
Firearms, and Explosives, the Union Gap Police Department, and the Washington State Patrol.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Swensen.

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