Wheeler County Man Sentenced to 21 Months in Federal Prison for Illegally Possessing Firearms

AMARILLO—Scott Leavitt, 39, of Shamrock, Texas, was sentenced this morning by U.S. District Judge Mary Lou Robinson to 21 months in federal prison following his guilty plea in May 2013 to a felony information charging one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun. Judge Robinson remanded Leavitt into custody. Today’s announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Sarah R. Saldaña of the Northern District of Texas.

According to the factual resume filed in the case, on August 14, 2012, deputies with the Wheeler County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to the Cemetery Road Trailer Park in Shamrock, where they found Leavitt, outside a mobile home, suffering from a severe injury to his hand. Leavitt advised that he had been making an explosive device and that it exploded in his hand. He was rushed to the hospital.

Deputies obtained a warrant and searched Leavitt’s mobile home. Inside, they found remnants of the explosive device that had injured Leavitt, some hand grenades, and two machine guns that had been originally manufactured as semi-automatic weapons but had been converted to fully automatic weapons.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; the FBI,;the Wheeler and Winkler County Sheriff’s Offices; and the Amarillo Police Department’s bomb squad. Assistant U.S. Attorney Vicki Lamberson prosecuted.