Show-Me State Times

ST. LOUIS – U.S. District Judge Matthew T. Schelp on Monday sentenced a convicted felon from St. Louis, Missouri, who was caught twice with a firearm and drugs to 100 months in prison.

Dawon Hennings, 40, pleaded guilty in March to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He admitted being caught with a 9mm handgun and methamphetamine on April 12, 2022, by Saint Louis County Police Department officers engaged in a special enforcement detail within the North County Precinct. Officers had spotted a Kia Optima without a front license plate and pulled the vehicle over.

After Hennings was indicted and a warrant was issued for his arrest, detectives with the St. Louis County Police Department saw him walking on Lookaway Drive in St. Louis County on Dec. 26, 2022. Detectives arrested Hennings and found a stolen Glock .380 caliber semi-automatic pistol in his pocket, as well as a baggie containing meth and another containing a small amount of a mixture of cocaine, heroin, and fentanyl.

The St. Louis County Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Christian Goeke 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 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 communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.