Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

An Ellis Grove, Illinois, man was sentenced to 46 months in prison today for being a felon in possession of a firearm and for possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun, announced U.S. Attorney Donald S. Boyce for the Southern District of Illinois.

 

Jeffrey Robert Pautler, 49, was arrested on May 15, 2016, by Randolph County Sheriff’s deputies following a report of a domestic incident at Pautler’s residence. When deputies arrived, they found Pautler in an agitated state, with bloodied hands and jeans. Pautler threatened the deputies with a shovel and said he wanted to commit suicide. The deputies eventually calmed Pautler down and had him taken to a hospital. Pautler’s live-in girlfriend consented to a search of the residence, and deputies found a sawed-off shotgun and rifle inside the home.

 

Pautler was later interviewed and admitted that he possessed the firearms, which he had obtained from a neighbor. He claimed that he used the rifle to shoot coyotes, and he said that he had not fired the shotgun. He also admitted that he was a daily user of marijuana, which he claimed relieved pain.

 

At the time he possessed the firearms, Pautler was on parole for a 1991 second-degree murder conviction from Cape Girardeau County, Missouri, for which he was paroled on October 22, 2014.

 

The prison sentence was imposed at the U.S. District Court in Benton, Illinois, where Pautler had pleaded guilty to the charges on October 6, 2016. In addition to the term of imprisonment, Pautler was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after the term of imprisonment, and was ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and a $200 special assessment.

 

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen B. Clark.