NEWS RELEASE

OFFICE OF THE UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

WESTERN DISTRICT OF MISSOURI

MATT J. WHITWORTH

Contact Don Ledford, Public Affairs ● (816) 426-4220 ● 400 East Ninth Street, Room 5510 ● Kansas City, MO 64106

www.usdoj.gov/usao/mow/index.html

APRIL 6, 2009

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FAYETTE MAN INDICTED FOR ILLEGAL FIREARM

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. – Matt J. Whitworth, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced today that a Fayette, Mo., man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for illegally possessing a firearm.

Donald Ray Gerlt, 47, of Fayette, was charged in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Jefferson City on Friday, April 3, 2009.

The federal indictment alleges that Gerlt was in possession of a Davis Industries .32-caliber derringer on Feb. 9, 2009.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Gerlt has a 2007 felony conviction for operating a motor vehicle with a revoked license in Howard County, Mo., a 1998 felony conviction for tampering in Howard County, and a 1991 felony conviction for rape in Randolph County, Mo.

Whitworth cautioned that the charge contained in this indictment is simply an accusation, and not evidence of guilt. Evidence supporting the charge must be presented to a federal trial jury, whose duty is to determine guilt or innocence.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lawrence E. Miller. It was investigated by the Howard County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fayette, Mo., Police Department, the Missouri State Highway Patrol and the New Franklin, Mo., Police Department.

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