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Department of Justice

Office of Public Affairs

For Immediate Release

Thursday, April 14, 2016
Contact: Louis Goggans

Ohio Man Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing Firearm at St. Jude

Memphis, TN An Ohio man who unlawfully possessed a firearm at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital has been sentenced to federal prison. Edward L. Stanton III, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, Aaron Cauley, 30, of Montgomery County, Ohio, threatened the mother of his child with a firearm inside of St. Jude.

In March 2015, Memphis police officers responded to an aggravated assault call at St. Jude. The defendant had allegedly threatened the life of his child’s mother while they were inside of a patient room.

Cauley and his child’s mother were engaged in a heated argument when he pointed a pistol and threatened to kill her. Afraid for her life, the victim alerted St. Jude security of the occurrence. Security subsequently notified Memphis police officers, who arrived on the scene and detained Cauley. Officers also located a knife in the defendant’s pants pocket while searching him.

Security discovered a green backpack hidden under some children’s clothing in the patient room where the alleged incident occurred. A Sig Sauer 9mm pistol and multiple rounds of ammunition were found in the backpack.

In December 2015, Cauley pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays Jr. to one count of felony possession of a firearm.

On Thursday, April 14, 2016, Judge Mays sentenced Cauley to 100 months in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Memphis Police Department on behalf of the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Task Force. The PSN Task Force is a collective comprised of

personnel from the Memphis Police Department; Shelby County Sheriff’s Office; and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The PSN Task Force works in a unified effort against gun crime, targeting repeat offenders who continually plague the greater Shelby County area.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Dean DeCandia prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.

Nashville Field Division