Lincoln Man Sentenced to 13 Years for Discharging a Firearm During a Drug Crime

Acting United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Buongkhoy Daniel Wal, 19, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge John M. Gerrard to 13 years’ imprisonment for discharging a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. Wal was also sentenced to a five-year term of supervised release to be served after he completes his prison sentence. There is no parole in the federal system. Wal pleaded guilty to his offense on March 21, 2023.

On August 2, 2021, police responded to reports of a shooting which occurred near the Edgewood Theaters and Target on the south side of Lincoln. Jayden Prentice, Christopher Duncan, and Riley Mills were present when police arrived. Duncan and Prentice had suffered gunshot wounds. First responders resuscitated Duncan using CPR. All were then transported to the hospital. Duncan and Prentice each spent a month in the hospital being treated for their wounds, and Duncan had to have one of his legs amputated.

The investigation would later reveal that a group of people, including Wal and Xavier Gary, arranged to purchase a half-pound of marijuana from Prentice, Duncan, and Mills. The planned purchase was a ruse for a robbery. Wal and an unknown person got into the back of Duncan’s vehicle. Both Wal and the unknown person were seen carrying firearms. Wal began counting out money. At that time, the unknown person pulled out his gun, said something to the effect of, “this is how this is going to go,” and then shot Prentice in the face. Mills was seated in the backseat next to Wal and the unknown person. Mills and the unknown person began struggling over the gun. Meanwhile, several more gunshots were heard being fired just outside the car. Wal, the unknown person, and the others in their group then fled the scene. In their haste to get away, they dropped one of the firearms, a .45 caliber handgun. Ballistics reports showed that handgun was the weapon which fired the shot that struck Prentice, and it fired at least one of the shots that struck Duncan. A DNA profile was also found on that firearm. The DNA profile was found to contain a mixture of DNA from three people, and it was consistent with Wal and Gary both being contributors.

Gary pleaded guilty to his offense, attempted possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute, on March 21, 2023. Prentice, Duncan, and Mills each pleaded guilty to offenses involving the possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute, and possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. On June 24, 2022, Mills was sentenced to a 92-month term of imprisonment, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. Prentice was sentenced on July 6, 2022, to a 72-month term of imprisonment, and a three-year term of supervised release. Duncan is scheduled for sentencing on November 7, 2023.

The investigation was conducted by the Lincoln Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. 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.