Multiple defendants federally indicted for illegal firearms possession

SAVANNAH, GA:  Three men face felony firearms charges in separate indictments by a U.S. District Court grand jury in the Southern District of Georgia, while nine others have admitted to gun charges. 

The cases are being investigated in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, including the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).

“These prosecutions continue to send a strong message,” said David H. Estes, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. “With our law enforcement partners, we are working to make our communities safer by removing guns from the hands of those who illegally possess them.” 

In the past three years, nearly 700 defendants have been federally charged in the Southern District of Georgia for illegal firearms offenses – most often for possessing a firearm after conviction on a previous felony. That charge carries a statutory penalty upon conviction of up to 10 years in prison, and there is no parole in the federal system.

Defendants named in federal indictments from the August 2021 term of the U.S. District Court grand jury include:

• Shawn Green, 27, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon;
• Calvin Jerrod Hendrix, 24, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon; and,
• Jamel Albert, 30, of Savannah, charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon.    

Criminal indictments contain only charges; defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Additional defendants recently have been adjudicated on federal charges that include illegal firearms possession, including:

• Darius Edwards, 33, of Pembroke, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. ATF agents found Edwards in possession of a firearm during an investigation of a suspicious gun purchase. Edwards was on state probation for a felony conviction at the time.
• Devonta Armon Stallings, 28, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies spotted Stallings March 28, 2020, when he ran from a group loitering in a known drug area and tossed a pistol before being captured. Stallings was on state probation at the time of his arrest.
• William Thomas Nealous III, 30, of Martinez, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Columbia County Sheriff’s deputies found Nealous with an AR-15 style rifle in his vehicle July 2, 2020, while investigating reports of a man driving slowly through a neighborhood. Nealous was on probation for a previous felony conviction at the time of the arrest.

• James Stallings III, 29, of Augusta, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Stallings encountered Richmond County Sheriff’s deputies July 27, 2020, when they were called to investigate shots fired outside an Augusta hotel. 

• Bryant Young, 25, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. He was arrested July 16, 2019, after a pistol fell from his waistband when he ran from Savannah Police officers who were investigating a report of a man with a gun.  
• Timothy Lee Lanigan, 38, of Reidsville, Ga., awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Lanigan was on felony probation in June 2018 when Garden City Police officers found him in possession of a pistol during an investigation. 
• King Coney, 29, of Savannah, awaits sentencing after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. Savannah Police officers found Coney in possession of a pistol Aug.19, 2020, when questioning him in relation to a domestic disturbance.  

These cases also are being investigated under the Prosecutor to Prosecutor Program (P3), in which federal and state prosecutors collaborate to determine the most appropriate venue for adjudication of alleged crimes.

Agencies investigating these cases include the ATF; the Savannah Police Department; the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office; the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office; the Port Wentworth Police Department; and the Garden City Police Department.

The cases are being prosecuted for the United States by Southern District U.S. Attorney’s Office Assistant U.S. Attorneys, including Henry W. Syms Jr., Steven S. Lee, Joshua S. Bearden, Joseph McCool, Marcela C. Mateo, and Noah J. Abrams, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Darron J. Hubbard.

Under federal law, it is illegal for an individual to possess a firearm if he or she falls into one of nine prohibited categories including being a felon; illegal alien; or unlawful user of a controlled substance. Further, it is unlawful to possess a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense or violent crime. It is also illegal to purchase – or even to attempt to purchase – firearms if the buyer is a prohibited person or illegally purchasing a firearm on behalf of others. Lying on ATF Form 4473, which is used to lawfully purchase a firearm, also is a federal offense. 

For more information on the lawful purchasing of firearms, please see: https://www.atf.gov/qa-category/atf-form-4473.