Samuel Ernest Haley III, Felon in Possession of a Firearm, Missouri 2018

A Columbia, Missouri, man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison without parole for illegally possessing a firearm.

Samuel Ernest Haley III, 46, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on October 21, 2019, for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Haley was stopped by Columbia police officers on April 4, 2018, after he merged off Interstate 70 onto the Lake of the Woods Road exit without using his turn signal. As officers were questioning Haley outside his car, he jumped into the driver’s seat and attempted to drive off.

When officers searched Haley’s car, they found a loaded KAHR Arms CW45 semi-automatic handgun. They also found a soft zipper case that contained approximately 1.56 grams of crack cocaine.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Haley has two prior felony convictions for assault, and prior felony convictions for armed criminal action and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

According to court documents, over the course of Haley’s life, he has shot three different people on three different occasions, including his own daughter. In 2016, Haley was charged with driving a moving truck through the front wall of his former paramour’s home (because he was upset she was sleeping with another man) while her teenage daughter was asleep upstairs.

This case was prosecuted by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron M. Jolly. It was investigated by the Columbia, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmo/pr/columbia-man-sentenced-15-years-illegal-firearm-0