Seven-Time Felon Pleads Guilty to Illegally Possessing Gun and Meth Trafficking

Gulfport, Miss – Quniton Kinyoun Peairs, 34, of Pascagoula, pled guilty today before Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola, Jr. to being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Dana Nichols with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Three times during May 2018, Peairs sold methamphetamine, along with a firearm, to a confidential informant for the South Mississippi Metropolitan Enforcement Team and the ATF.  On one occasion, Peairs brought another individual with him who sold a shotgun stolen from the Pascagoula Police Department to the confidential informant.  Peairs has seven prior felony convictions in Jackson County from 2006 through 2015. 

Peairs faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison for the firearm charge and a maximum of 20 years for the drug charge.  He further faces fines up to $1,000,000 along with at least 3 years of supervised release.  He will be sentenced by Judge Guirola on June 11, 2019, at 10:00 a.m. 

The South Mississippi Metropolitan Enforcement Team and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Annette Williams.