Reagan T. Fondren Acting United States Attorney Western District Of Tennessee | U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee
Kaderion Stokes, a 19-year-old from Memphis, has been sentenced to federal prison for the theft of firearms and possession of a machinegun. The announcement was made by Reagan Fondren, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee.
Court documents revealed that on September 9, 2023, around 166 firearms were stolen from a Federal Firearms Licensee (FFL) business in Atoka, Tennessee. An officer from the Atoka Police Department noticed a GMC Sierra pick-up truck in the business's parking lot. When approached, the truck fled quickly. It was later discovered that the truck had been stolen and used to ram into the store's interior. Several items, including firearms, were taken during this incident. Stokes emerged as a suspect following investigations.
In October 2023, Stokes was arrested in Memphis on unrelated charges while in possession of two firearms stolen from the FFL business. Following an indictment by a federal grand jury, a federal arrest warrant was issued for Stokes. He was apprehended by the United States Marshals Service at an apartment in Memphis and found with a firearm equipped with a machinegun conversion device known as a "switch." A superseding indictment followed, charging him with possession of the "switch" alongside charges related to firearm theft.
Stokes pled guilty in federal court on October 31, 2024. On January 29, 2025, Senior United States District Court Judge Jon P. McCalla sentenced him to 87 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release; there is no parole available within the federal system.
The case involved investigation efforts from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Atoka Police Department with assistance from the United States Marshals Service and Memphis Police Department.
Acting U.S. Attorney Reagan Fondren expressed gratitude towards Assistant United States Attorneys Marques Young and Eileen Kuo and Special Assistant United States Attorney Raven Icaza for prosecuting this case on behalf of the government as well as acknowledging law enforcement partners involved in its investigation.
