A federal judge has sentenced a Benton County man to over 23 years in federal prison for committing new firearm offenses while on supervised release for a prior federal firearm sentence, announced United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz.
Jason Autry, 49, was found in possession of a rifle, a handgun, and ammunition on December 3, 2020. Autry, a 16-time convicted felon, was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm related to an incident in Decatur County, Tennessee on January 15, 2012. He began his federal supervised release term on September 16, 2020, following an eight-year state prison sentence for Solicitation of First-Degree Murder and Facilitation of Especially Aggravated Kidnapping. These convictions were tied to his involvement in the kidnapping and murder of Holly Bobo, a nursing student from Decatur County, whose body was found over three years after her disappearance on April 13, 2011.
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Approximately 25 days into his supervised release, Autry was found with a stolen Smith and Wesson, Model M&P Shield, 9mm caliber pistol. Within 78 days of his release, he also had possession of a Marlin, 30-30 caliber rifle and ammunition.
Autry pled guilty to three counts of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition on November 22, 2022. On June 24, 2024, United States District Court Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced him to a total of 279 months in federal prison for the firearm violations and the supervised release violation. In the federal system, there is no parole.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, along with the Benton County Sheriff’s Department, investigated this case for federal prosecution.
United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Beth Boswell, Josh Morrow, and Naya Bedini for prosecuting the case, as well as the law enforcement partners who investigated it.
For more information, please contact the Media Relations Team at USATNW.Media@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.
Source: Read Original Release
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