Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Tammy Dickinson, United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Jefferson City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.

Robert Fount Mahan, 34, of Jefferson City, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Beth Phillips to 10 years in federal prison without parole.

On Dec. 30, 2014, Mahan pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. Mahan was traveling westbound on U.S. 54 Highway on Oct. 25, 2012, when a Missouri State Highway Patrol trooper attempted a vehicle stop on the Old Bass Road crossover due to Mahan’s suspicious behavior and the license plate on Mahan’s vehicle being reported as not on file. Mahan instead led the trooper in a vehicle pursuit that reached speeds of 75 to 80 miles per hour on Old Bass Road. Mahan’s vehicle crossed the center line on several occasions. Mahan’s vehicle struck an embankment and crashed into a fence near the Hunter Run intersection. Mahan ran from the vehicle but was apprehended. Troopers found a loaded Hi Point .45-caliber pistol in the vehicle’s center console.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Mahan has three prior felony convictions for domestic assault and a prior felony conviction for possession of a controlled substance.

Co-defendant Danielle Christine Orcutt, 33, of Jefferson City, was also sentenced today to one year and one day in federal prison without parole.

Orcutt, who was Mahan’s girlfriend, pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to tamper with evidence so that it could not be used in Mahan’s prosecution. Orcutt admitted that she had twice visited the location where Mahan’s vehicle crashed in search of a purple cloth bag containing methamphetamine. However, troopers had already located the bag prior to Orcutt’s search.

Co-defendant Kenneth Dale Witherell, 28, of Barnett, Mo., was sentenced on March 3, 2015, to three years and six months in federal prison without parole. Witherell pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

This case was prosecuted by Supervisory Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Cole County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department.

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This news release, as well as additional information about the office of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, is available on-line at

http://www.justice.gov/usao/mow/index.html

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