Springfield Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Illegal Firearm
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. — A Springfield, Missouri, man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm.
Antowan L. Wade, 45, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years in federal prison without parole. Wade was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.
On Aug. 3, 2023, Wade pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
On May 9, 2022, members of the U.S. Probation Office conducted a search of Wade’s apartment. Wade was on supervised release after serving a federal prison sentence for bank robbery. Officers found a Canik55 9mm semi-automatic pistol with 16 rounds of ammunition under a pillow on the bed in his bedroom.
Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Wade has two prior felony convictions for bank robbery, a prior felony conviction for the robbery of a Best Buy store in Joplin, Missouri, and prior felony convictions for making and passing counterfeit currency and for burglary.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Clark. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Project Safe Neighborhoods
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.
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