September 24, 2015

Catahoula Parish Man Pleads Guilty to Explosives, Firearms Charges

ALEXANDRIA, LA—United States Attorney Stephanie A. Finley announced today that a Catahoula Parish man pleaded guilty to possessing unregistered explosives and illegally possessing firearms.

Bill W. Womack, 56, of Manifest, La., pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Dee D. Drell to one count of possessing unregistered explosive devices and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking. According to information presented at the guilty plea, agents seized machine guns, destructive devices, silencers, a short barreled rifle and more than a kilogram of marijuana. The weapons were not registered as required by law. In addition, law enforcement destroyed improvised explosive devices at the scene over a five-day period.

Womack faces up to 10 years in prison for the explosive device charge and a mandatory five years in prison for the firearm/drug trafficking charge. He also faces three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine and forfeiture of the weapons seized. A sentencing date of December 18, 2015 was set.

The ATF, FBI, Louisiana State Police and Catahoula Parish Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Seth D. Reeg and William J. Flanagan are prosecuting the case.