Monticello man gets 100 months in prison for ammo possession

A Monticello man who was indicted last year as part of a federal anti-violence program was sentenced Thursday to 100 months — or just over eight years — in federal prison.

Mario Green, 35, pleaded guilty in December to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition, admitting that on July 25, 2016, he ripped a cellphone out of a female acquaintance’s hand, punched her in the face and pulled out a gun, threatening to kill her, during an argument at a home in Jacksonville.

When police arrived, they found a nonfunctioning gun in the couch that was loaded with 14 rounds of .25-caliber ammunition.

Cody Hiland, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, said Green had prior convictions for aggravated assault, terroristic threatening and being a felon in possession of a firearm, which prevented him from legally possessing ammunition. Hiland said Green also has prior convictions for misdemeanor battery and domestic battery.

At a sentencing hearing Thursday, U.S. District Judge James Moody Jr. cited Green’s violent, repeat criminal history in pronouncing the sentence, which amounts to eight years and four months in prison without the possibility of parole. Moody also ordered Green to serve three years on supervised release.

The investigation that led to Green’s arrest was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Jacksonville Police Department.

Green was among 41 convicted felons whose indictment on federal charges was announced in February 2017 to promote the Violence Reduction Network, a national program with the U.S. Department of Justice that aims to reduce violent crime by providing participating agencies with training and federal resources.

Little Rock and West Memphis joined the federal anti-violence program in 2015.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kristin Bryant, while attorney Blake Byrd of Little Rock represented Green.