Fort Worth Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Federal Prison OnFederal Firearms Convictions

FORT WORTH, Texas —Booker Bernard Preston, 38, of Fort Worth, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge John McBryde to a total of 10 years in federal prison, following his conviction at trial in September 2012 on one count of selling a firearm to a convicted felon and one count of possessing an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. As part of the sentencing hearing, Judge McBryde found that Preston committed perjury during his trial. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

During trial, the government presented evidence that in August 2010, special agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received information from a confidential informant that an individual, later identified as Preston, was selling a large amount of handguns and rifles, and that he was known to take and fill orders for firearms and not require any paperwork to purchase the firearms.

In an undercover operation on November 15, 2010, Preston sold a Bryco, Model 48, .380 caliber semiautomatic pistol to a convicted felon. On November 19, 2010, a federal search warrant was executed at Preston’s residence, during which 24 firearms were seized, including a sawed-off shotgun, which Preston stated he had made the previous week.

The case was investigated by ATF and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John P. Bradford.