Columbia Man Sentenced for Illegal Firearm

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Columbia, Missouri, man who tried to run a woman off the road and chased her into the police station, was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Daleron Michael Monroe, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roseann Ketchmark to six years in federal prison without parole. The court also ordered the federal sentence to be served consecutively to Monroe’s imprisonment in a Boone County Circuit Court case.

On Sept. 17, 2018, Monroe pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Monroe admitted that he was in possession of a Springfield Armory .45-caliber semi-automatic handgun on April 29, 2018.

On that date, a woman identified in court documents as “L.P.” ran into the lobby of the Columbia, Mo., Police Department while fleeing from Monroe. According to court documents, Monroe had chased her in his vehicle at a high rate of speed while brandishing a firearm. During this chase, he rammed his vehicle into the vehicle containing L.P., and ran her and a co-worker off the road. L.P. was incredibly frightened of Monroe, according to court documents, due to previous threatening texts, the brandishing of the firearm, the high-speed chase, and the fact that he followed her into the police station.

An officer saw Monroe outside the lobby door. He began to run away as the officer approached. The officer thought he observed what might be a gun in Monroe’s right hand. Officers ran out of the police station with their weapons drawn and saw Monroe running towards a car parked in the middle of the street, with the driver’s door left open. One officer unsuccessfully attempted to apprehend Monroe; during the struggle the officer attempted to use his firearm, but it jammed. Monroe broke free and ran northbound towards Sixth Street. Officers continued to pursue Monroe on foot for approximately three blocks before he was apprehended in a residential back yard on Park Avenue.

Officers returned to Monroe’s vehicle, which was still running in the middle of the street, and saw the handgun laying in the front passenger side floorboard.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Monroe has prior felony convictions for unlawful possession of a firearm (in which he shot the victim in the face) and possession of a controlled substance. In addition to those felony convictions, Monroe also has a number of misdemeanor convictions, including four prior convictions for domestic assault, three prior convictions for resisting/interfering with arrest, and prior convictions for harassment to frighten or disturb another person and trespassing.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.