Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Memphis, TN – A Memphis man has been sentenced for illegal gun possession related to an armed robbery that he committed at a gas station convenience store. Lawrence J. Laurenzi, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the sentence today.

According to information presented in court, on the evening of October 3, 2016, Gregory Craft, 35, brandished a firearm and demanded money from a customer of the Valero convenience store located at 4027 Jackson Avenue. After taking the victim’s money, the defendant left the store and fired the weapon into the air. Craft had previously been convicted of several state charges, including felony assault with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon, aggravated assault and domestic assault.

An indictment returned on January 26, 2017, by a federal grand jury charged Craft with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Following a three-day trial, a jury unanimously returned a guilty verdict on June 7, 2017. In imposing the 120-month sentence today, U.S. District Judge Samuel H. Mays also ordered Craft to serve a 3-year term of supervised release following his release from prison.

The case was investigated by the Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force, and officers and agents of the Shelby County Sheriff’s Office, Memphis Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lauren J. Delery and Jerry R. Kitchen prosecuted this case on the government’s behalf.

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