LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A 43-year-old Little Rock man was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm, the Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of Arkansas said on Thursday.
Christopher Mathis, a multi-convicted felon, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm on Feb. 13. United States District Judge James Moody Jr. handed down the sentence of 195 months in the Bureau of Prisons, followed by three years of supervised release.
Mathis was taken into custody on July 22, 2022, after "openly carrying a firearm" around an apartment complex in the 5000 block of West 65th Street. The Little Rock Police Department spoke to a witness, who identified Mathis and said he "made threats toward him."
Authorities located Mathis on the property, which he was reportedly banned from, while a maintenance worker found the firearm "behind nearby dumpsters." Little Rock police officers checked with witnesses, who confirmed that it was the same firearm Mathis was carrying.
According to the Office of the United States Attorney Eastern District of Arkansas, Mathis has prior convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm as well as previous convictions for residential burglary, domestic battery of a pregnant woman, terroristic threatening, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.
Mathis, classified as an armed career criminal, was indicted on May 3, 2023.
