Federal Grand Jury Indicts Louisville Man for Illegal Possession of a Firearm

Federal Grand Jury Indicts Louisville Man for Illegal Possession of a Firearm
 

Louisville, KY – A federal grand jury in Louisville, Kentucky returned an indictment yesterday, charging a local man with possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division, and Special Agent in Charge Jodi Cohen of the FBI Louisville Field Office made the announcement.

According to court documents, on January 12, 2022, Dajuan Simonton, 29, possessed a handgun after having previously been convicted of the following felony offenses: receiving stolen firearms, complicity to possession of a controlled substance in first degree, complicity to receiving stolen property, and tampering with physical evidence.

Simonton is currently in custody at the Louisville Metro Department of Corrections on unrelated charges. Once his state charges are resolved, he will make his initial court appearance before a U.S. Magistrate Judge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky. If convicted, he faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. There is no parole in the federal system.

The ATF and FBI are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Alicia P. Gomez is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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