Shreveport resident sentenced to 12 months in prison for lying on ATF form to buy a firearm

SHREVEPORT, La. – United States Attorney David C. Joseph announced that Thomas Ray Beaird, 41, of Shreveport, was sentenced Thursday to 12 months and one day in prison by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth E. Foote for attempting to purchase a firearm from a pawn shop. He was also sentenced to one year of supervised release.

Beaird attempted to purchase a handgun from a licensed Shreveport firearms dealer on June 29, 2018. Beaird lied on an ATF form 4473 to purchase a Ruger LCP .380-caliber gun. Beaird marked on the form that he was not subject to a court order restraining him from harassing, stalking or threatening a child or an intimate partner or child of such partner.  Beaird was arrested on June 20, 2018 for second degree kidnapping of his wife. A Caddo Parish juvenile court judge also granted a protective order against Beaird on behalf of his juvenile children on June 21, 2018. Personal service of the protective order was made at the Caddo Correctional Center on June 26, 2018.  Beaird pleaded guilty to the federal charge on December 18, 2018.

Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

The ATF conducted the investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford prosecuted the case.