James Kasmire, Felon in Possession of Ammunition, Arkansas 2023

LITTLE ROCK—A convicted felon will spend the next 15 years behind bars after being caught with ammunition, according to a federal prison sentence handed down today.

James Kasmire, 46, of Little Rock, pleaded guilty on January 4, 2023, to being a felon in possession of ammunition in United States District Court.

United States District Judge Lee P. Rudofsky sentenced Kasmire to 15 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release for the charge.

Kasmire was indicted on October 4, 2022, in a superseding indictment on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

The investigation into Kasmire’s activities began on October 20, 2020, when officers from the Sherwood Police Department conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle traveling at a high rate of speed on Jacksonville Cutoff Road.

During the stop, officers detected the odor of marijuana and observed several open bottles of alcohol in the vehicle. Officers observed the passenger, Kasmire, who admitted there was marijuana in the vehicle, move his left hand near his seatbelt buckle. For the safety of the officers, he was then asked to step out of the vehicle.

While conducting a search of Kasmire, officers located a 9mm Luger ammunition round in his pants pocket that he admitted belonged to him.

Kasmire is classified as an armed career criminal offender due to his criminal history that includes violent and drug-trafficking offenses, including multiple convictions for delivery of cocaine, delivery of marijuana, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, conspiracy to deliver cocaine, possession of cocaine, possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, aggravated assault, domestic battery third degree, possession of Xanax, possession of drug paraphernalia, possession of Hydrocodone, and possession of firearms by certain persons.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Sherwood Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Julie Peters.