Justin Wayne Pierce Sentenced Following Guilty Plea to a Federal Fiream Charge

Acting United States Attorney Steve Butler of the Southern District of Alabama announces today that Justin Wayne Pierce of Semmes, Alabama was sentenced to 63 months imprisonment. Pierce’s sentencing followed entry of a April 2017 guilty plea to a charge of prohibited person in possession of a firearm. In imposing the sentence Chief United States District Court Judge Kristi K. Dubose found that Pierce was in the highest criminal history category due to his prior criminal convictions. Pierce’s criminal history includes prior convictions in Mobile County for Possession/Receipt of a Controlled Substance, Breaking and Entering a Motor Vehicle, and Burglary, Second Degree. Pierce’s guilty plea included his admission that on September 12, 2016, he was in knowing possession of three firearms which had been recently stolen in a residential burglary.

Possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, in this instance a convicted felon, is a violation of Title 18, United States Code Section 922(g)(1). Pierce’s term of imprisonment will be followed by a three (3) year term of supervised release.

This case arose from a collaborative investigation by the Jackson, Alabama Police Department, the Clarke County Sheriff’s Office, and the Mobile Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Alabama.