SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Republic, Mo., man pleaded guilty in federal court today to stealing 21 handguns from an Ozark, Mo., pawn shop.
Michael Cameron Heston, 26, of Republic, Mo., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to aiding and abetting in the theft of a firearm from a licensed firearm dealer.
Co-defendant Daryl Bradley Maples, 28, of Springfield, Mo., has pleaded guilty to the same charge. Heston and Maples admitted that they broke into Sutton Gun and Pawn, 3994 N. 20th St., Ozark, by breaking out the glass front door on Dec. 21, 2012. They stole 21 handguns and various amounts of ammunition. They then went to Maples’s residence, where they divided the spoils of the burglary and made plans to trade the stolen firearms for cash or drugs.
When Maples was arrested on Dec. 26, 2012, he had in his possession two of the firearms that were stolen in the pawn shop burglary, an F.N. 9mm pistol and a Colt.38-caliber revolver, as well as assorted ammunition.
Under federal statutes, Heston and Maples are each subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole, plus a fine up to $250,000. Sentencing hearings will be scheduled after the completion of presentence investigations by the United States Probation Office.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Abram McGull II. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Ozark, Mo., Police Department and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
