Defendant Senteced To 46 Months For Being A Felon In Possession

United States Attorney Kenyen R. Brown of the Southern District of Alabama announces that Robert Lyle Bertram, 51, of Shelby, Alabama, was sentenced today to 46 months of imprisonment by U.S. District Judge Kristi K. DuBose for being a felon in possession of a firearm.  The judge ordered that Bertram undergo 3 years of supervised release upon completing his term of imprisonment and pay a $100 mandatory special assessment.     

Bertram was indicted by a federal grand jury in February 2016 on one count of knowingly possessing a firearm as a felon.  He was previously convicted of Promoting Prison Contraband, 2nd Degree, on September 20, 2007, in the Circuit Court of Elmore County, Alabama, and Robbery, 3rd Degree, on October 30, 2002, in the Circuit Court of Wilcox County, Alabama. 

On January 10, 2015, Mobile County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Brannon Buettner was dispatched to the dead end of Apache Drive in Eight Mile, Alabama 36613, in reference to a vagrant that had been temporarily detained by off-duty Mobile Police Officer Tanner Whipkey.  Upon arrival, Deputy Buettner spoke with Officer Whipkey as well as with two residents in the area, who advised that there had been several burglaries in the neighborhood and that they had went into the woods at the dead end of Apache Drive to look for possible suspects.  The residents said they located a tent and called Officer Whipkey, who found Bertram in the area of the tent.  Deputy Buettner determined that Bertram had a warrant for a parole violation for Robbery in the First Degree.  Based on where Bertram and the tent were located, law enforcement determined that Bertram was trespassing on property belonging to Mobile County.  Deputy Buettner found two guns in plain view inside the tent, a F.I.E. revolver and a Ruger revolver, as well as six .22 caliber bullets in Bertram’s front left pocket. 
 
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Mobile Police Department, and the Mobile County Sheriff’s Office.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sinan Kalayoglu.