DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Middle District of Tennessee

For Immediate Release

Tuesday, April 12, 2022
Mark H. Wildasin
, United States Attorney

Nashville Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Possession of a Stolen Firearm As a Convicted Felon

NASHVILLE – Lee Allen Mayhew, 45, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a stolen firearm while being a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Mark H. Wildasin for the Middle District of Tennessee.

On February 5, 2018, Mayhew was arrested by officers with the Murfreesboro Police Department after he was found to be a passenger in a car stopped for a traffic violation. After producing identification for another person, Mayhew was arrested for criminal impersonation, and during a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers found a Sig Sauer rifle and ammunition in the trunk, which had previously been stolen in Robertson County, Tennessee. Mayhew later admitted that the rifle was his.

Mayhew pleaded guilty to the charge last month and was found at sentencing to be an armed career criminal, based on four prior convictions for residential burglary. Pursuant to the plea agreement, the 15-year sentence will run concurrently with any sentence received from charges pending in the state of Georgia, where Mayhew was charged in October 2020 with the murder of a 52-year-old woman, after breaking into her home and subsequently stealing her car. At the time of that incident, Mayhew was on pre-trial release from the firearms charge in Tennessee and had failed to appear for a hearing the week before.

Mayhew will be transferred to the State of Georgia at a later date for further proceedings.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, and the Murfreesboro Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Juliet Aldridge prosecuted the case.

Nashville Field Division