County man sentenced

By Staff
Staff Reports, Hartselle Enquirer
A Morgan County man is the first sentenced under a program designed to lower gun violence.
Barry Lamar Thompson, 37, of Decatur, was charged with possessing a firearm after having been convicted of a felony, a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence, and being an unlawful user of and addicted to a controlled substance.
He was sentenced by United States District Judge L. Scott Coogler to 46 months in prison for each count, fined $1,000 with special assessment of $300, and given three years supervised release after the prison term is served. Thompson pled guilty to the charges Aug. 26.
The sentencing was announced this week by United States Attorney Alice H. Martin of the Northern District of Alabama, James M. Cavanaugh, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Bob Burrell, District Attorney of Morgan County.
Thompson is the first person sentenced as a result of the cooperation between the D.A's gun violence task force and the United State Attorney's prosecution initiative known as I.C.E. The DA's Project FREEZE (Firearms Regulations Enforcement and Education Zone).
is Morgan County's Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. Alabama ICE (Isolate the Criminal Element) is the United States Attorney's gun violence reduction program.
This was investigated by the Decatur Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Angela Redmond Debro.