Bowling Green, KY – A Taylor County, Kentucky man was sentenced today to 57 months in prison followed by a 3-year term of supervised release for illegally possessing two firearms in Campbellsville, Kentucky.

U.S. Attorney Michael A. Bennett of the Western District of Kentucky, Special Agent in Charge R. Shawn Morrow of the ATF Louisville Field Division, and Sheriff Allen Newton of the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office made the announcement.

According to court documents, on March 18, 2021, Jeffrey R. Beard, 62, a convicted felon, possessed a New England Firearms 12-gauge shotgun, a Winchester 20-gauge shotgun, and a Marlin .22 caliber rifle. Beard had previously been convicted of the following felony offenses. On July 13, 2016, in Green Circuit Court, Beard was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. On July 12, 2016, in Taylor Circuit Court, Beard was convicted of first-degree wanton endangerment. On April 6, 2004, in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, Beard was convicted of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a machine gun, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

The case was investigated by the ATF Bowling Green Field Office and the Taylor County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark J. Yurchisin II, of the U.S. Attorney’s Bowling Green Branch Office, prosecuted the case.