Western District of Tennessee

Jackson, TN – Bobby Joe Brown, 42, of Obion County, Tennessee has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison for unlawfulpossession of firearms, silencers and machine guns. United States Attorney Kevin G. Ritz announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, on August 7, 2018, officers with the Union City Police Department and agents with the 27th Judicial Drug Task Force and the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation received information that the defendant, Bobby Joe Brown, had previously sold three guns, one of which was stolen. Officers went to Brown's residence in South Fulton to speak with him regarding the stolen gun. Brown agreed to speak with the officers, and he also allowed them to search his home.

During the search, officers found a small mill/drill combo machine that appeared to have been used on multiple occasions to mill and drill aluminum. Officers also observed an 80% lower receiver lying on top of a workshop table, multiple books on fully automatic firearm and suppressor manufacturing, and a plastic tote on the floor that contained several different lengths of black painted pipe that was threaded on either end, along with flashlight tubes and freeze plugs. Officers also located several firearms, including handguns and rifles, along with many AR-15 parts, including assembled upper and lower parts kits used to fully assemble AR-15 lower receivers. One gun, a Dan Wesson .357 revolver, was found in a closet wrapped in a latex glove. That gun was reported stolen in 2008 from Obion County.

Officers also located a total of four completed suppressors, and one partially completed suppressor, one lightning link, and one drop-in auto sear (the latter items are devices that are used to turn semi-automatic AR-15 rifles into fully automatic weapons). Officers seized all items related to Brown's manufacturing of firearms, along with a small amountof methamphetamine and other assorted drug paraphernalia found throughout the home.

Brown admitted to making homemade silencers and machine guns. He said he conducted on-line research and had books to assist him in making the machine guns and silencers and did not think it was illegal to do so. Brown further admitted that he bought and used methamphetamine regularly.

On April 15, 2022, Brown pled guilty to the 15-count indictment in this case charging him with various firearms-related violations.

On October 14, 2022, Chief United States District Judge S. Thomas Anderson sentenced Brown to 30 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

Although Brown was not a convicted felon at the time he possessedthe firearms and other related items in this case, and had very little documented criminal history, the Court determined that a 2 1/2-year prison sentence was warranted here, particularly because of the number of firearms and other related items possessed by Brown, the fact that Brown had manufactured silencers and had converted some of the firearms to fully automatic weapons, and because Brown was an active user of methamphetamine while he manufactured and possessed these items.

This case was investigated by the Union City Police Department, the 27th Judicial Drug Task Force, the TBI and the ATF.

United States Attorney Kevin Ritz thanked Assistant United States Attorney Josh Morrow, who prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.

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For more information, please contact Public Information Officer Cherri Green at 901-544-4231 or [email protected]. Follow@WDTNNews on Twitter for office news and updates.