Cooper Sentenced for Armed Felony Violation

TYLER, Texas – It’s another grim chapter in the Eastern District of Texas as Craig Marcus Cooper, a 42-year-old from Farmersville, faces federal prison for firearms violations. The Department of Justice announced today that Cooper has been sentenced to 18 months behind bars by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Schneider.

Cooper’s transgression: being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. The crime? A daring attempt at the Dukes Truck Stop in Van Zandt County, Texas, where he and co-defendant Colten David Barrow sought to sell a fully-automatic machinegun and silencer for $10,000 to an undercover federal agent. Both were nabbed on the spot.

But there’s more to this story. Cooper was no stranger to trouble; he had already been convicted of criminal mischief in Collin County, Texas, back in 2011. The investigation also unearthed that the machinegun they tried to peddle had vanished from its last known owner nearly a decade ago.

Indicted on March 27, 2013, Cooper’s actions were part of a broader crackdown under the Project Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. This initiative is a joint effort by federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies, community members, and organizations to combat gun and gang violence and ensure public safety in the Eastern District of Texas.

The ATF led the investigation into this case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jim Noble prosecuted it, demonstrating the robust cooperation between federal agencies in tackling illegal firearms activities.

Cooper’s sentence sends a clear message: when you play with fire, even with fully-automatic guns, you burn for a long time.

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