Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

OKLAHOMA CITY – PHILLIP CREIGHTON MONTGOMERY, 27, of Moore, Oklahoma, has been sentenced to ten years in prison for possessing firearms illegally, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

According to Count 2 of a superseding indictment filed on March 5, 2019, Montgomery, having previously been convicted of a crime punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year, knowingly and unlawfully possessed a Springfield XD40, .40 caliber pistol and a Glock 17, 9mm pistol.  On May 7, 2019, Montgomery appeared before Senior U.S. District Judge Stephen P. Friot and entered a plea of guilty to Count 2 of the superseding indictment.  Public records reflect Montgomery had felony convictions for concealing stolen property, burglary in the second degree, bringing contraband into a penal institution, unauthorized use of a motor vehicle, and obstructing an officer.   Under federal law, Montgomery was prohibited as a convicted felon from possessing firearms.

At sentencing, Judge Friot sentenced Montgomery to ten years in prison—the statutory maximum—to be followed by three years of supervised release.  In announcing the sentence, Judge Friot cited to the defendant’s brutal relevant conduct; namely, that he had battered a female while he possessed a firearm and thereafter threatened to further assault the female with the firearm.

“We will continue to bring firearms charges against perpetrators of violence who violate federal law,” said U.S. Attorney Downing. “Through this case and others like it, the Department of Justice is preventing violence and protecting those in our communities.”

This sentence is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, with assistance from the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Moore Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary E. Walters.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiatives to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.  For more information about Project Guardian, please see the Attorney General’s announcement here.   The case is also part of “Operation 922,” the district’s local implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian.  “Operation 922” prioritizes firearms prosecutions connected to domestic violence, including domestic violence abusers who possess a firearm and are subject to a victim protective order or have been previously convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.

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