Florida Woman and Convicted Felon Sentenced for Federal Firearms Conviction after Threatening another Woman with a Gun

            Montgomery, Alabama – On Tuesday, August 18, 2020, Kassy Rene Freeman, a 36-year-old from Melbourne, Florida, was sentenced to 33 months in prison after pleading guilty to a federal firearms charge, announced United States Attorney Louis V. Franklin, Sr. Freeman was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after she completes her prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system.

            According to court records, on March 26, 2019, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) responded to a disturbance call from a hotel clerk stating that a woman had threatened her with a gun. When officers arrived at the hotel, the clerk said that Freeman had been asked to leave the property due to a fight with another individual, but she did not leave right away. Eventually, after being asked again to depart, Freeman got into the driver’s seat of her car and started to drive off. She then leaned across the passenger seat, where her young child was sitting and crying hysterically, pointed a gun at the clerk through the passenger window and threatened to shoot her in the face. Freeman left the property before police arrived. Officers took a statement from the clerk along with a description of Freeman and the vehicle. The following day, on March 27, 2019, MPD spotted Freeman and initiated a traffic stop based on the complaint. In the car, they found a 9mm handgun. Freeman is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing firearms. Any potential state charges based on this incident are separate from the federal case.

            On January 15, 2020, Freeman was indicted by a federal grand jury for being a felon in possession of a firearm. She pleaded guilty to the charge on June 15, 2020.

            “The use of firearms to settle disputes has become far too common and the number of recent shootings in our communities is alarming,” stated U.S. Attorney Franklin. “It is even more disturbing when someone intentionally places a child in the middle of a dangerous and volatile situation, putting his or her innocent life at risk and providing a horrible example of how to behave. My office will continue to target repeat offenders and hope that it will deter other adults and teach our children that there are better ways to resolve conflicts.”

            The Montgomery Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated this case, with assistance from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office and the Alabama Department of Forensic Sciences. Assistant United States Attorney Russell Duraski prosecuted the case.