Man pleads not guilty to illegal possession of firearms
A 77-year-old Bowie County man accused of having 118 firearms and nearly 21,000 rounds of ammunition while prohibited because of a felony conviction pleaded not guilty this week in a Texarkana federal court.
Robert D. Whittington III appeared with Texarkana lawyer David Crisp for arraignment Tuesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Caroline Craven. Craven appointed Crisp to represent Whittington in defense of a two-count indictment handed down in May in the Eastern District of Texas, Texarkana Division. Crisp entered pleas of not guilty to both counts.
The indictment alleges Whittington was convicted in 2011, in Bossier Parish, La., of the felony offense of terrorizing.
As a convicted felon, Whittington is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under state and federal laws. According to the indictment, Whittington was in possession of 118 weapons and 20,908 rounds of various types of ammunition March
7 in Bowie County.
A notice of the government’s intent to seek Whittington’s forfeiture of the firearms and ammunition is attached to the indictment.
According to court documents in the Louisiana case used to create the following account, Whittington pleaded guilty Jan. 3, 2011, to terrorizing and received a five-year term March 9, 2011, at a sentencing hearing. Whittington posted a letter at a deer camp in Louisiana threatening to come after the camp’s owner while in a deer stand. A threatening letter was also mailed to the camp owner’s home.
“We comin (sic) after yo ass during deer season when we can drop you like a deer! Right out of your stand! We know now where you sit,” an appellate opinion in the case quotes the letters as stating.
At sentencing, the trial court “noted that Whittington was 70 years old, had retired from the United States Army as a Lt. Colonel and had a long-term third marriage,” court documents state. “However, also noted was that Whittington and the recipient of his communications had previously had runins that led to misdemeanor convictions for Whittington, and that during the investigation into the instant crimes, Whittington made threats to ‘ open fire on’ sheriff’s deputies.”
If convicted of possessing firearms and ammunition after being convicted of a felony, Whittington faces up to 10 years in federal prison, a fine up to $250,000 or both on each count.
Craven set an unsecured $20,000 appearance bond for Whittington, who will remain free while his case proceeds. The case is scheduled for trial before U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III in August. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble is representing the government.