GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - On Apr. 30, 2013, Leslie H. Ashmore, 46, of Kingsport, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 240 months in prison, by the Honorable Leon Jordan, U.S. District Judge. Upon his release from prison, he will be subject to supervised release for five years. There is no parole in the federal system.
Following a jury trial in December 2012, Ashmore was convicted of possession of a firearm after having been previously convicted of a felony offense. He was arrested by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) on federal charges in October 2011, with the assistance of the Kingsport Police Department SWAT team, Sullivan County Sheriff's Department, and Second Judicial District Drug Task Force. A firearm was found in the vehicle in which Ashmore was traveling at the time of his arrest. Federal law prohibits anyone who has previously been convicted of a felony offense from possessing a firearm or ammunition. Ashmore was also subject to the provisions of the Armed Career Criminal Act, whereby a person convicted of possessing a firearm after a felony conviction is subject to a minimum mandatory 15 years, up to life in prison if that person has three or more prior violent felony or drug felony convictions.
The investigation was conducted by the Kingsport Police Department, Second Judicial District Drug Task Force, and ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorneys J. Gregory Bowman and Suzanne Kerney-Quillen represented the United States.
This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a comprehensive national strategy that creates local partnerships with law enforcement agencies to effectively enforce existing gun laws. It provides more options to prosecutors, allowing them to utilize local, state, and federal laws to ensure that criminals who commit gun crime face tough sentences. PSN gives each federal district the flexibility it needs to focus on individual challenges that a specific community faces.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
