Violent Career Criminal Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Possessing a Stolen Handgun
INDIANAPOLIS — Kyree Bryce Harris, 25, of Indianapolis, has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison after being found guilty of illegally possessing a firearm as an armed career criminal following a 2-day jury trial in May.
According to court documents and evidence introduced at trial, on the morning of June 17, 2022, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers were called to Ethel Avenue in Indianapolis on a report of a suspicious vehicle parked in front of the Twenty Fifth Street Baptist church all night. When officers arrived, they encountered Harris asleep in the vehicle with a handgun tucked next to his leg, between the driver’s seat and center console. The gun had previously been reported stolen. On scene and at trial, Harris admitted he carried the gun for protection.
Because Harris was a convicted felon, federal law prohibited him from possessing firearms. His felony convictions stemmed from a string of six armed robberies of Indianapolis-area convenience stores and Family Dollar stores that he committed in January 2017, for which he was also convicted federally.
U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Myers; Daryl S. McCormick, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division; and Randal Taylor, Chief of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, made the announcement.
“Armed career criminals like this defendant fuel the gun violence plaguing too many of our neighborhoods,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary A. Myers. “Six prior convictions for armed robbery were not enough to disarm this criminal, but the serious sentence imposed here will protect the public from the danger he poses. I commend the officers who intervened and helped ensure that this defendant was held accountable for his actions.”
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Sarah Evans Barker. Barker also ordered that Harris be supervised by the U.S. Probation Office for 5 years following his release from federal prison and be subject to a $200 fine.
U.S. Attorney Myers thanked Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeremy C. Fugate and Michelle P. Brady, who prosecuted this case.
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