Convicted Felons Illegally Possessing Firearms Sentenced to Prison

MACON, Ga. – A Bahamian fugitive and a Georgia jail escapee were sentenced to prison this week on federal gun charges resulting from separate Project Safe Neighborhoods investigations in the Middle District of Georgia.

Byron Bradley Demeritte, 31, a Bahamian citizen residing in Lithonia, Georgia, was sentenced to serve 60 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on Jan. 8. Demeritte previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a machinegun on Aug. 26, 2024.

Chavis Stokes, 31, of Macon, was sentenced to serve 96 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release on Jan. 8. Stokes previously pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on Oct. 9, 2024. Stokes, who is serving significant state sentences, was ordered to serve his time consecutively to already-imposed sentences.

U.S. District Judge Marc T. Treadwell presided over the cases. There is no parole in the federal system.

“Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to prioritize federal prosecutions against illegally armed, dangerous criminals,” said U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary. “I salute the excellent investigative and prosecutorial work in these Project Safe Neighborhoods cases, which endeavor to make our communities safer.”

According to the plea agreement and other statements referenced in court in the Demeritte case, Monroe County Sheriff’s Office deputies initiated a traffic stop of the vehicle Demeritte was driving on I-75 for improper license plate and erratic driving on May 3, 2023. The officers smelled a strong odor of marijuana in the vehicle, and Demeritte showed the officers his marijuana cigarette and a small bag of marijuana. Demeritte told officers he was traveling to Miami, Florida, to retrieve his passport. Demeritte and his passenger, Darriyo Saunders, of the Bahamas, were asked to exit the vehicle so a search could be conducted for drug possession, and Saunders attempted to remove a backpack. Saunders then took off running while being pursued by another deputy and was later taken into custody at a nearby Wal-Mart. Inside the backpack, deputies found six firearms and extra magazines (one extended and one drum), one of which was a stolen Glock Model 21 .45 caliber modified to fire as a machinegun. In addition, officers found MDMA tablets and multiple small bags of marijuana inside the backpack. Demeritte is a fugitive from the Bahamas wanted on a pending and active murder warrant issued on March 27, 2023. 

According to the plea agreement and other statements referenced in court in the Stokes case, the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) located Stokes—who had escaped from the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center—in Montezuma, Georgia, on Oct. 26, 2023. He was alone at a single wide trailer on Shiloh Church Road. Stokes surrendered without incident; inside, SERFTF agents saw a bag on a table with an AK style magazine sticking out of it and found two firearms in a back bedroom: a semiautomatic pistol and a rifle. Agents found loaded magazines for both firearms as well as 29 rounds of 9mm ammunition and 68 rounds of assorted 7.62 caliber ammunition. Additionally, agents located multiple phones and a half a kilogram of suspected marijuana.

These cases are 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 of Justice 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 Demeritte case was investigated by ATF and the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office and prosecuted by Criminal Chief Leah McEwen and Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert McCullers.

The Stokes case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the FBI, the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Georgia State Patrol and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Joy Odom.