Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – A Columbia, Missouri, man pleaded guilty in federal court today to illegally possessing several firearms.

Fredrick Lee Mixon, Jr., 47, pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge Willie J. Epps, Jr., to one count of being a felon in possession of firearms.

By pleading guilty today, Mixon admitted that he was in possession of a Smith & Wesson revolver, a Winchester .22-caliber semi-automatic rifle, and a Mossberg 12-gauge shotgun on Dec. 4, 2019. Columbia police officers found those firearms in his bedroom while executing a search warrant at Mixon’s residence.

Officers also found an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 multi-caliber semi-automatic rifle and a STEN 9mm sub-machine gun hidden inside a barbecue grill on the rear patio of the residence. The firearms were inside a rifle bag, which also contained a partially loaded 60-round drum magazine, three partially loaded 30-round magazines, and a box of ammunition. Officers also found a loaded Romarm Drako 7.62x39mm semi-automatic pistol with a 30-round magazine in Mixon’s car.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Mixon has prior felony convictions for robbery and illegally possessing a firearm.

Under federal statutes, Mixon is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley S. Turner. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Columbia, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.