Domestic altercation with firearms leads to 10-year sentence

OKLAHOMA CITY – Wendell L. Reeves, 32, has been sentenced to 120 months in prison for possessing ammunition after a felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

According to an indictment filed on March 19, 2019, Reeves possessed 86 rounds of .22 LR ammunition and five spent cartridge cases of .22 LR ammunition in Oklahoma City on June 28, 2018, after he had been convicted of a felony.  He pleaded guilty on May 10, 2019.

According to court filings, Reeves possessed ammunition in connection with a physical altercation with an ex-girlfriend, whom he hit three times before he retrieved a firearm and fired at least six shots at her in an area where children were present.  The shots did not injure the ex-girlfriend, who fled to a relative’s nearby residence and escaped further harm only when bystanders intervened to keep Reeves from forcing his way inside.  Court filings also explain that Reeves spoke belligerently in jail telephone calls after his arrest, including remarking he should have killed the ex-girlfriend.

Today, U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk sentenced Reeves to 120 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release.

This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jacquelyn M. Hutzell prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiatives to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.  For more information about Project Guardian, please see the Attorney General’s announcement here.   The case is also part of “Operation 922,” the district’s local implementation of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian.  “Operation 922” prioritizes firearms prosecutions connected to domestic violence, including domestic violence abusers who possess a firearm and are subject to a victim protective order or have been previously convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence.