United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

1100 Commerce St., 3rd Fl.
Dallas, Texas 75242-1699

Telephone (214) 659-8600
Fax (214) 767-0978

WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, MAN SENTENCED
TO 10 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON, WITHOUT PAROLE,
ON FIREARMS CONVICTION

Conviction Part of Project Safe Neighborhood Initiative

United States Attorney Richard B. Roper announced that Wichita Falls, Texas, resident, Derek Ernest Austin, was sentenced on Friday by the Honorable Jerry Buchmeyer, United States Senior District Judge, to ten years imprisonment for unlawful possession of ammunition, in connection with the July 2004 shooting death of Wichita Falls resident Mark Gustafson. Austin, age 45, a multiple-convicted felon, pled guilty in November 2005 to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition. Judge Buchmeyer sentenced Austin to the maximum penalty allowed under the federal statute.

"This case is a prime example of the resources available to the federal government to make sure that dangerous felons are off of the streets. Through Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), the combined forces of community leaders, along with federal, state and local law enforcement, are used to combat gun crime and make communities safer,” said U.S. Attorney Roper.

At the sentencing hearing, a Wichita Falls police detective described the July 23, 2004 shooting of Gustafson, and detailed Austin's extensive criminal history. The detective recounted Austin's statement that he had received a call from a neighbor during the early morning hours of July 23, 2004, asking him to intervene in a dispute with her tenant. Austin retrieved a loaded .410 caliber shotgun from his bedroom and went to the home. Shortly after his arrival, Austin shot Gustafson, striking him in the left femoral artery. Gustafson died soon thereafter.

Despite Austin's claim that he shot Gustafson to fend off a knife attack, the other residents of the home indicated to the Wichita Falls police that they heard no altercation, no threats were made, and no one else saw Gustafson with a knife. Indeed, it was Gustafson himself who had a fresh laceration to the scalp, and the physical evidence was inconsistent with Austin's claim that Gustafson had attacked him. In addition, the detective described Austin's history of unfounded self-defense claims, including his repeated claim after a 1996 murder arrest that he had used martial arts upon a Wichita Falls resident to protect himself from attack. In fact, Austin later pled guilty to the felony offense of criminally negligent homicide, and finally admitted that he had beaten the seated individual to death with a wooden walking stick. Austin has also been twice convicted of assault -- once for assaulting a police officer, and once for beating a Wichita Falls woman with a tire iron. Austin had purported to be an expert in martial arts.

The Government argued during Friday’s sentencing hearing that Austin's history of violent offenses, false claims of self defense, and boasts about expertise in martial arts confirmed that his shooting of Gustafson did not constitute the valid use of self defense. Judge Buchmeyer agreed, and sentenced Austin to the maximum punishment permitted by statute.

U.S. Attorney Roper commended the investigative work of the Wichita Falls Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jordan A. Konig.

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