Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

OKLAHOMA CITY – ADRIAN DAVID RAY GERDON, 38, of Pottawatomie County, has been sentenced to 210 months in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced Robert J. Troester of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.

According to court records, state authorities issued felony arrest warrants in unrelated cases for Gerdon on December 28, 2017.  An investigation led law enforcement to Gerdon, who had been hiding out in a trailer in Newalla, Oklahoma.  During Gerdon’s arrest on January 24, 2018, law enforcement discovered a Smith and Wesson, Model 3913, 9mm pistol in the trailer along with a Savage Arms, Mark II, .22 caliber rifle.  Further investigation revealed that Gerdon had previous felony convictions in Pottawatomie County for domestic assault and battery by strangulation, burglary in the first degree, assault with a dangerous weapon, possession of illegal drugs, bringing illegal drugs into a jail, and domestic assault and battery resulting in great bodily injury.  Under federal firearms laws, Gerdon was prohibited from being in possession of any firearm because of his prior felony convictions.

On March 7, 2018, Gerdon was indicted by a federal grand jury for being in unlawful possession of a firearm following his felony convictions.  He pleaded guilty on May 17, 2018.

At his sentencing hearing on September 28, United States District Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange found that Gerdon’s criminal history makes him an Armed Career Criminal, which increases his minimum punishment to 15 years in prison.  Judge Miles-LaGrange ordered the 210 months to be served concurrently with several previously-imposed state-court sentences.  Additionally, Gerdon was ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.

This sentence is the result of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives, the Shawnee Police Department, and Oklahoma’s District 23 Drug and Violent Crimes Task Force, with assistance from the Cleveland County District Attorney’s Office and the Pottawatomie County District Attorney’s Office.  Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark R. Stoneman, the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice program to reduce violent crime.  In October 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the reinvigoration of Project Safe Neighborhoods and directed U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop crime-reduction strategies that incorporate lessons federal law enforcement has learned since the program’s launch in 2001.

Reference is made to public filings for further information.

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