CAPE GIRARDEAU – U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel on Thursday sentenced a convicted felon who was caught twice with guns and drugs to 110 months in prison.
Joshua Allen Morris, 39, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau in June to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted being caught with two handguns and methamphetamine on Feb. 20, 2023, during a traffic stop by the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office. On June 11, 2023, the Kennett Police Department received a report that Morris pistol-whipped someone at a store. Officers found Morris and discovered a vacuum sealed bag of marijuana, 23 grams of meth, a digital scale and a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol under the hood of his car.
Morris has prior felony convictions and is thus barred from possessing a firearm.
The Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and Kennett Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted the case.
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.