A federal grand jury indicted a Helena-West Helena man Wednesday who authorities say illegally possessed two handguns, one of which was stolen.
Dentrel Maurice Bragg, 20, was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon stemming from a Feb. 6 traffic stop by Helena-West Helena police, according to a news release from the office of Christopher Thyer, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas.
Thyer's office has focused for more than four years on investigating wrongdoing in the Arkansas Delta region, investigations that included large-scale drug trafficking and police corruption.
On Wednesday, Thyer said the case against Bragg was the result of "an additional commitment to support state and local law enforcement efforts to make Phillips County and the entire Arkansas Delta a safer place to live and work."
"Removing weapons from the streets in Phillips County is a high priority for all law enforcement," he added.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Chris Givens, who serves as spokesman for Thyer's office, said federal prosecutors brought the case against Bragg as part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods program, which aims to reduce gun violence through cooperation among federal, state and local law enforcement.
"That is a high-crime area where there are guns and drugs and gang activity, and we're always looking to help local communities," Givens said.
According to the release, a Helena-West Helena police officer stopped Bragg after noticing that the cream-colored, four-door Lincoln Town Car he was driving didn't have any vehicle tags.
When the officer approached the vehicle, he smelled a "strong odor of marijuana" and had Bragg exit the car to be searched. Another officer found a loaded .40-caliber Smith and Wesson pistol in Bragg's pocket and a loaded Colt .380 Mustang pistol inside the car. The Colt pistol had been reported stolen from Jonesboro, the release said.
At the time, Bragg was serving 60 months of probation after pleading guilty in Phillips County Circuit Court in October 2012 to first-degree battery and a terroristic act, court records show.
The convictions stemmed from the June 2012 shooting of then 25-year-old Omar Henry at 620 York St. in Helena-West Helena.
According to court documents, Henry told police he was standing outside a group of apartments when Bragg and another man, Casey Grant, "pulled out guns and started shooting." At least one bullet struck Henry in his side, requiring him to be hospitalized. Shots also struck a nearby occupied house.
Grant was sentenced to prison on a probation violation related to the shooting. Bragg faced five to 20 years in prison but was placed on probation based on the recommendation of Phillips County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Todd Murray.
On Wednesday, Bragg was being held in the Cross County jail in Wynne. He is scheduled to be appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge Beth Deere later this month for arraignment. He faces up to 10 years in the federal prison system, which doesn't have parole.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Peters is prosecuting the case, which was the result of a joint investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Helena-West Helena Police Department; and the Arkansas State Police.
Metro on 04/09/2015