United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced that Forrest Carl Bullin, 39, of Stockton, Alabama, was sentenced in federal court on the charge of being a drug user in possession of a firearm. Bullin pled guilty to the charge during his jury trial in March of 2019.
United States District Court Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock accepted the guilty plea on March 21, 2019, after the United States Attorney’s Office called three witnesses during the trial who all implicated Bullin with involvement in methamphetamine use. Bullin’s guilty plea came prior to the expected testimony of Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies who responded to the defendant’s residence on Dec. 19, 2017. Bullin fired shots at Baldwin County sheriff’s deputies who responded to a report that he was involved in a domestic dispute which had resulted in his girlfriend being pushed off a bridge. Bullin shot one of the deputies in the face and torso. In the statement of facts supporting the guilty plea, Gloria Bedwell, the federal prosecutor representing the United States, advised Judge Beaverstock that several methamphetamine smoking pipes were recovered in Bullin’s residence, and one of them was recovered within feet of the firearm Bullin used to shoot at the deputies. Bullin’s DNA was found on that meth pipe and also on three of the remaining four meth pipes recovered in the search of the residence. Judge Beaverstock accepted Bullin’s mid-trial guilty plea and set the case over for sentencing.
At the sentencing hearing Monday, July 22, Judge Beaverstock found that the advisory sentencing guidelines, which were calculated at 235 months to 292 months, were limited by the statutory maximum of 120 months. The judge found that the statutory maximum sentence of 120 months became the guideline sentence in this case. Judge Beaverstock sentenced Bullin to the maximum possible, 120 months imprisonment, to be followed by a supervised release term of 3 years. As conditions of his supervision, the judge ordered that Bullin would undergo mental health and drug abuse treatment. He did not impose a fine, but ordered that Bullin pay $100 in special assessments.
United States Attorney Moore said, “I have said this before and I will repeat it again: You do not shoot a cop. If you do we will bring the full weight of the federal government down on you." Moore said, “Judge Beaverstock rightly imposed the maximum sentence on this trigger puller who shot a law enforcement officer. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will always be zealously prosecuting anyone who picks up a weapon to use against one of our officers. Our veteran prosecutor Gloria Bedwell along with our law enforcement partners put together a compelling case that has resulted in getting this dangerous individual out of our community."
The case was investigated by the Baldwin County Major Crimes Task Force, the Baldwin County Sheriff’s Office, the Bay Minette Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorney Gloria Bedwell.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
