Second Memphis man admits role in gun theft.
He pleads guilty to 1 count
A second Memphis man pleaded guilty Thursday in Little Rock to a federal charge connected to a series of wintertime break- ins of tractor- trailer rigs parked overnight at truck stops in Crittenden, St. Francis and Miller counties.
Curtis Earl Evans Jr., 40, appeared before U. S. District Judge Leon Holmes to plead guilty to a new charge of possessing and selling at least one of 107 firearms stolen Jan. 11 from a rig parked off Interstate 55 in Mississippi County. The rig was transporting the guns from a Gander Mountain distribution center in Indiana to two of the chain’s stores in Texas.
Evans and Mario Marquell Ward, also of Memphis, were jointly indicted March 3 on a conspiracy charge involving the gun thefts. Court records show that a superseding indictment adding two more defendants was filed April 8. One of the new defendants is Markeith Deshun Thomas, 36 and also from Memphis, who has pleaded innocent to charges of conspiracy and possession of stolen firearms, and is set for trial beginning Oct. 13. The name of the fourth defendant, who hasn’t been apprehended, remained under seal along with the superseding indictment on Thursday.
Ward was the first to plead guilty, on May 14, to the same charge as Evans pleaded guilty to on Thursday. In return, federal prosecutors dropped the original conspiracy charges against both men.
On Thursday, before accepting Evans’ plea, Holmes made sure the defendant understood that the newer charge was filed under a section of law that increases the maximum penalty to 10 years. Under the conspiracy charge, he faced a maximum five- year penalty.
Evans and his court- appointed attorney, Assistant Federal Public Defender Kim Driggers, said they understood, and Driggers indicated that Evans agreed to plead guilty, despite the possible increased penalty, to avoid near- certain indictment on additional charges.
Assistant U. S. Attorney Stephanie Mazzanti told the judge that from Dec. 14, 2014, through February, more than 80 tractor- trailer rigs were broken into as the drivers slept overnight at rest areas or truck stops along interstates 55 and 40 in the three- county area. She said the thieves used bolt cutters to open the backs of the trucks and peek inside to determine if there were any goods worth stealing. She said more than 15 thefts have been reported, including that of the Gander Mountain guns.
Prosecutors earlier said that the 107 stolen guns — 93 handguns, 12 rifles and two 12- gauge shotguns — were worth $ 39,265 altogether. But on Thursday, Mazzanti told the judge that investigators have so far determined that the thieves stole $ 172,299.34 worth of property altogether, and that each convicted defendant will be required to jointly pay that amount in restitution.
She said the amount of restitution owed by Evans may be reduced, however, if it turns out that Evans isn’t responsible for the thefts of some of the stolen items.
According to a court document, the other stolen items included food products, bicycles, Apple MacBook computers and Goodyear tires. It said five of the stolen computers were recovered in the Memphis area.
Mazzanti told the judge that investigators believe that each of the four men charged in the gun thefts received and distributed some of the stolen guns. Evans didn’t disagree, telling the judge he had sold two of the guns.
He was arrested on Feb. 10 when agents investigating the thefts found him hiding near his parked vehicle near a parking area on Interstate 55 where several trucks had been broke into. Mazzanti said cases of stolen Kool- Aid jammers and Capri Sun products were seen “in plain sight in the back of Evans’ vehicle.”
She said Evans identified Ward as the other man that agents had seen fleeing into the darkness earlier that night, and that text messages found on Ward’s cellphone revealed the men’s involvement in several other thefts.
Although Evans asked Holmes to allow him to remain free until sentencing, Holmes refused, saying he wasn’t comfortable that if released, Evans wouldn’t be a danger to the community. The judge cited several prior convictions, including for aggravated burglary and aggravated robbery, as well as a parole violation, pending traffic charges and a positive drug screen that violated conditions of Evans’ pretrial release before his guilty plea.
Saying he wanted to spend time with his 6- year- old daughter, Evans said, “I beg you, please give me a chance,” but Holmes told him, “Because of your history, I think you need to be taken into custody and begin serving your time.”