GREENEVILLE, Tenn. - Roger D. France, 28, of White Pine, Tenn., was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison by the Honorable J. Ronnie Greer, U.S. District Judge, on May 28, 2014. Upon his release from prison, France will be subject to supervised release under the supervision of the U.S. Probation Office for three years. There is no parole in the federal system.
France pleaded guilty in February 2014 to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. During an undercover law enforcement investigation, France, along with co-defendant Roger Thornton, sold stolen firearms from a burglary earlier that day in Cosby, Tenn. At the time that he sold the stolen firearms, France was a convicted felon, having been previously convicted of aggravated burglary in Jefferson County. Thornton, who is also a convicted felon, also pleaded guilty in this case and is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court on July 28, 2014.
Law enforcement agencies participating in the joint investigation included the Fourth Judicial District Drug Task Force, Tennessee Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Gregory Bowman represented the United States.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
