Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

ST. PAUL, Minn. — A St. Paul man has been sentenced to 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for the illegal possession of a firearm following a 2021 shootout near a St. Paul bar, announced U.S. Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents and evidence presented at trial, on the afternoon of Sept. 18, 2021, Anthony Charles Deberry, 42, also known as “Peanut,” got into a verbal altercation with a man inside a bar in St. Paul and, as a result, was forced to leave and prohibited from re-entering the bar. Deberry remained in the vicinity of the bar. Later that evening, Deberry waited outside the bar, followed a group of men down the sidewalk after they left the bar and brandished a 9mm handgun with an activated laser site. Shortly thereafter, gunfire broke out, including one shot fired by Deberry. Deberry suffered from multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to Regions Hospital. Surveillance video footage from the bar showed Deberry hide his firearm under a parked car after the shooting. Responding law enforcement officers recovered Deberry’s firearm as well as multiple discharged cartridge casings on the sidewalk.

Because Deberry has prior felony convictions, he is prohibited from lawfully possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.

On June 20, 2023, Deberry was convicted by a federal jury on one count of possession of a firearm as a felon. He was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge Eric C. Tostrud. In sentencing Deberry, Judge Tostrud applied a 2-level enhancement for obstruction aimed at intimidating trial witnesses.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the St. Paul Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Middlecamp and Craig R. Baune prosecuted the case.

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