News Headlines

Center Man Sentenced to Six Years For Firearm Violations

A Shelby County man was sentenced to federal prison yesterday for firearms violations.

 

U.S. Attorney John M. Bales says 68-year old John Madison Hughes of Center, was sentenced to 72 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark in Beaumont. Hughes pleaded guilty in October of last year to possessing a stolen firearm.

 

According to information presented in court, on Oct. 17, 2012, a law enforcement officer was dispatched to a residence on County Road 1286 in Shelby County regarding a domestic disturbance involving Hughes and his girlfriend.  A sheriff's deputy stopped Hughes' truck and detained him pending further investigation. The deputy observed a rifle on the seat of Hughes' truck.  Hughes' girlfriend told deputies the rifle belonged to her and Hughes took it without her consent.  Hughes was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 2013, and charged with federal firearms violations.

 

This case was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. Project Safe Neighborhoods is aimed at reducing gun and gang violence, deterring illegal possession of guns, ammunition and body armor, and improving the safety of residents in the Eastern District of Texas. Participants in the initiative include community members and organizations as well as federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

 

The case was investigated by the Shelby County Sheriff's Office, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble.

 

To give you a little history of Hughes’ past, he was convicted of bank robbery in 1969, escape from a federal correctional institution in 1973, voluntary manslaughter in Nacogdoches County in 1987 and murder in Shelby County in 1991. 

Roughriders Sports

Family Features

Loading Family Features Content Widget
Loading Family Features Article