Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

PLANO, Texas – A 70-year-old Plano, Texas man has been sentenced to federal prison for a firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown.

Alfred Pick pleaded guilty on May 22, 2018, to a charge of possession of a firearm while an unlawful user of a controlled substance and was sentenced, pursuant to an agreement by all parties, to 87 months in federal prison on Oct. 17, 2018 by U.S. District Judge Marcia Crone.

According to information presented to the court, Plano police were called to an area hospital on Oct. 2, 2017, regarding a belligerent individual.  Officers encountered Pick, who was upset about the treatment of a relative in the hospital, and had told medical staff and others, that he intended to return to the hospital with a firearm and “would shoot [hospital staff] in their kneecaps and elbows first and let them bleed.”  Pick was taken into custody and delivered to mental health authorities for an evaluation.

As a result of the incident at the hospital, agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) opened an investigation that eventually received information that Pick possessed weapons and narcotics at his home.  Agents obtained a search warrant and found over 2 grams of cocaine and over 10 grams of marijuana in Pick’s residence.  Agents also discover 14 firearms at Pick’s residence, including a fully automatic machine gun with an obliterated serial number that witnesses later told investigators that Pick had admitted he stole while he served in the military.

The sentencing court also received information that Pick had repeatedly been cited for criminal trespass at various area hospitals for his aggressive behavior, involving both verbal and physical abuse of medical staff and impeding staff.  The court also heard that police had been called on two prior occasions in 2014 to restaurant parking lots where patrons reported that Pick had been threatening and brandished handguns in encounters with him.

Additional information presented at sentencing revealed Pick’s daughter reported to  investigators that Pick had sexually abused her from the time she was 4-years-old until the age of 17, taking nude photographs of her to, as he put it, “chart her growth” and sexually assaulting her.

Finally, the sentencing court received evidence that Pick threatened the Federal Magistrate Judge who detained him indicating he would fly his plane with explosives to kill the Judge and ATF agents who investigated his case.  Pick also stated that he would “have taught the Las Vegas shooter a thing or two,” referring to the Oct. 1, 2017 mass shooting. 

“Obviously, there was a lot more to the sentence that was received – a sentence that Mr. Pick and his lawyer agreed to – than a single gun with a missing serial number,” said U.S. Attorney Joseph D. Brown.  “Although Mr. Pick was a decorated veteran, he would use that status routinely to try to excuse his repeated criminal behavior.  This was also not a mental health issue.  It became a public safety issue.”

“The people concerned for Mr. Pick’s safety when he honorably served our nation were the same people most-concerned for his and the public’s safety throughout our investigation,” stated ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II. “I applaud those that recognized and reported Mr. Pick’s abuse of controlled substances, amplified threats and intensified displays of physical and psychological aggression as well as the decisive action of the ATF Agents.” 

In addition to the charge for which he was convicted, Pick was originally charged with two other violations – possession of an unregistered firearm and possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number.   As part of Pick’s agreement to plead guilty and agreement as to the term of his sentence, these charges were dismissed.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracey Batson.

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