Williamsburg Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Illegal Firearm

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Williamsburg, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

William Hayward Council, 58, of Williamsburg, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Council was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

On Sept. 1, 2015, Council pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Council admitted that he was in possession of a sawed-off shotgun on Aug. 23, 2013. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Council has two prior felony convictions for unlawful use of a weapon and three prior felony convictions for distribution of a controlled substance. Council has been convicted of driving while intoxicated on 10 different occasions.

On Aug. 23, 2013, two individuals reported to law enforcement that Council jumped out of his truck and pointed a sawed-off shotgun at them on a rural roadway in Callaway County, Mo. Callaway County sheriff’s deputies went to Council’s residence that day. Deputies knocked on the door to Council’s camper (where he resided) and he opened the door. Deputies instructed Council to step outside the trailer, and informed him they were going to arrest him; however, he stepped back into the camper. Fearing that Council could access the gun, deputies stepped into the camper and grabbed Council, who resisted the deputies’ attempts to arrest him.

After obtaining a search warrant, officers found a New England 12-gauge shotgun, with a barrel length of less than 12 inches, on a bed inside the camper.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Lynn. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Callaway County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.