United States Attorney
Northern District of Texas

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

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

Men Who Burglarized a Grapevine, Texas, Business and Stole Firearms
Sentenced to Substantial Federal Prison Terms Without Parole

Two men who admitted stealing firearms in October 2004 from Airport Jewelry and Loan, located at 7326 East Northwest Highway in Grapevine, Texas, have been sentenced, announced U.S. Attorney Richard B. Roper. Keary Dewayne Simmons, age 22, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced today by the Honorable Terry R. Means, United States District Judge, to 48 months imprisonment, without parole, and ordered to pay more than $24,000 in restitution to the victim of his crime. He was also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervision following his release from federal prison. His co-defendant, and cousin, Brent Cannon McDonald, age 20, was sentenced on March 28, 2006, to 70 months in federal prison, without parole, and also ordered to serve a five-year term of supervision following his release. Both defendants have been in custody since their arrests in the fall of 2005.

Each defendant was charged in a superseding indictment, returned by a federal grand jury in Fort Worth in November 2005, with one count of possession of a stolen firearm, one count of theft of a firearm from a federal firearms licensee and one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. McDonald pled guilty in November 2005 to one count of felon in possession of a firearm and Simmons pled guilty in January 2006 to one count of theft of a firearm from a federal firearms licensee.

According to documents filed in Court, on October 7, 2004, an employee of Airport Jewelry and Loan of Grapevine notified the Grapevine Police Department that the business had been burglarized and reported that 18 handguns, numerous pieces of jewelry and $2700 in cash had been taken. When police arrived at the business, they discovered that the alarm system, including a remote backup alarm had been defeated. Once inside the business, the burglars were able to enter the vault room by using tools, such as a drill, grinder, hammers and saws found in the business. Officers also seized a styrofoam cup found next to a shelf next to the safe.

On December 30, 2004, Irving Police Department officers obtained information about defendant McDonald’s whereabouts and obtained a search warrant for the residence. In the residence, police officers found defendants McDonald and Simmons, two stolen firearms, including a Ruger, 9 mm caliber pistol model P89, which was identified as stolen in the burglary, $2687 in U.S. currency and numerous tools including tools used to enter Airport Jewelry and Loan’s vault room.

The seized styofoam cup was sent to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner and Forensic Laboratories and a sample of saliva on the cup was compared to the known DNA of both defendants. Based on the forensic analysis, neither defendant can be excluded as a contributor of the DNA recovered from the cup.

U.S. Attorney Roper praised the investigative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Grapevine and Irving, Texas Police Departments and the Tarrant County Medical Examiner and Forensic Laboratories. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Camille Sparks.

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