U.S. District Judge Rodney W. Sippel sentenced Joshua Allen Morris, 39, to 110 months in prison on Thursday. Morris, a convicted felon, was caught twice with firearms and drugs.
Morris pleaded guilty in June in U.S. District Court in Cape Girardeau to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted to being caught with two handguns and methamphetamine during a traffic stop by the Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office on February 20, 2023. On June 11, 2023, the Kennett Police Department received a report that Morris had pistol-whipped someone at a store. Officers later found him with a vacuum-sealed bag of marijuana, 23 grams of methamphetamine, a digital scale, and a .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol under the hood of his car.
Morris has prior felony convictions and is barred from possessing firearms.
The Dunklin County Sheriff’s Office and Kennett Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie Hunter prosecuted it.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which brings together all levels of law enforcement and communities to reduce violent crime and gun violence. The Department launched an enhanced violent crime reduction strategy for PSN on May 26, 2021, focusing on fostering community trust, supporting violence prevention organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.
