Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

LITTLE ROCK—After a two-day trial, a federal jury has found Jack Lee Guffey, 60, guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The jury returned their verdict following 45 minutes of deliberating on Tuesday afternoon after trial began on Monday and continued with testimony on Tuesday. United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr., presided over the trial, and Judge Moody will sentence Guffey, of Shirley, at a later date.

On January 21, 2018, Guffey was driving his black Dodge pickup truck in Clinton when he almost struck the unmarked vehicle of a Van Buren County Sheriff’s Deputy with his truck. That deputy radioed for help, and other officers arrived behind the truck and observed Guffey cross the center line seven times. Officers initiated a traffic stop and conducted field sobriety tests, which Guffey failed. Guffey was arrested for driving while intoxicated, and during an inventory search of his vehicle, officers located a loaded High Point 9mm handgun in the truck as well as drug paraphernalia. Guffey was a convicted felon at the time of the incident, and at trial, his longtime friend testified that she had given him the firearm.

Because Guffey is a felon, it is illegal for him to possess a firearm. A grand jury indicted Guffey on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in November 2020. He has prior convictions for aggravated robbery, second degree battery, escape, commercial burglary and theft of property, possession of drug paraphernalia, and residential burglary.

The statutory penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm is not more than 10 years’ imprisonment, not more than three years of supervised release, and not more than a $250,000 fine. The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Van Buren County Sheriff’s Office and the Clinton Police Department.