A Hot Springs man was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release on one count of being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. The Honorable Chief Judge Susan O. Hickey presided over the sentencing hearing in the United States District Court in Hot Springs.
According to court documents, on or about September 18, 2019, officers with the Hot Springs Police Department were dispatched to a residential neighborhood after receiving a report of an individual discharging a firearm. Upon arrival to the area, officers made contact with a local resident who advised that Zachary Ray Burks, age 32, was on a boat dock on Lake Hamilton discharging a firearm.
As Officers approached the boat dock, they observed Burks to be in possession of a handgun. Contact was subsequently made with Burks and officers recovered a .44 caliber handgun, along with multiple expended and live rounds of ammunition. Burks is a convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing any firearms.
A Special Agent with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms confirmed that the firearm was manufactured outside the State of Arkansas and, thus, had traveled in interstate commerce.
U.S. Attorney David Clay Fowlkes of the Western District of Arkansas made the announcement.
The Hot Springs Police Department, the Arkansas State Police and the ATF investigated the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan Achorn and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Trent Daniels prosecuted the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
