David Barber Gets 42 Months for Gun in School Zone

A Beloit man with a long rap sheet is headed back to federal prison after being caught with a loaded .45 revolver less than 1,000 feet from a school. David Barber, 38, was sentenced to 42 months in prison by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley for possession of a firearm in a school zone, a charge he pleaded guilty to on October 12, 2022.

The arrest stemmed from a routine traffic stop gone sideways. At 2:18 a.m. on December 20, 2020, a Beloit police officer pulled over a silver SUV driven by Barber for a traffic violation. What should’ve been a ticket turned dangerous when the officer spotted a large revolver and open alcohol in the center console. After ordering Barber out of the vehicle, the suspect slammed the gearshift and fled the scene.

Officers tracked Barber to his brother’s apartment using ID he had handed over during the stop. Inside, they found him hiding. A search turned up a loaded silver Weihrauch .45 Colt revolver stashed in a bathroom cabinet. Forensic analysis confirmed Barber’s DNA on the trigger — definitive proof he had handled the weapon.

The location made the crime worse: the traffic stop occurred within the legally defined 1,000-foot radius of a school, triggering strict federal penalties. At the time, Barber was already under federal supervision following a prior conviction for heroin trafficking — a fact that didn’t escape Judge Conley’s scrutiny.

Conley emphasized Barber’s decades-long pattern of criminal behavior and repeated violations of supervision. Since 2001, Barber has cycled in and out of prison and supervision, racking up revocations like a criminal ledger. The judge handed down an additional six months for the supervision violation, to run consecutively, and ordered the gun and ammunition forfeited.

The case was investigated by the Beloit Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Corey Stephan. It falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DOJ’s national push to curb gun violence through targeted enforcement and community partnership. For Barber, the message was clear: the streets won’t keep forgiving.