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United States of America v. Darius R. Thomas
Date: 07-24-2025
Case Number:
Judge: Beth Phillips
Court: The United States District Court for the Western District of Missouri
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office for Springfield
Defendant's Attorney:
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Description:
Springfield Man Sentenced to 3 Years for Illegally Possessing Firearms
A Springfield, Mo., man with ties to a local gang was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing a firearm and making a false statement during a firearm purchase.
Darius R. Thomas, 28, was sentenced by U.S. Chief District Judge Beth Phillips to 3 years in federal prison without parole, to be followed by three years of supervised release.
On Jan. 3, 2025, Thomas pleaded guilty to being an unlawful user of a controlled substance while in possession of a firearm and to making a false statement during a firearm purchase.
Thomas is a close associate of an area gang known as “FTO,†who have been linked to several area violent crimes and firearms offenses.
On June 1, 2023, officers with the Springfield Police Department (SPD) responded to a 911 call reporting a verbal altercation where two males were yelling at an unarmed man and waving guns around in the parking lot of the Kum & Go gas station located at 2930 South National Ave. The victim told the 911 operator, “I pulled up, they were making a fuss, and I said, ‘do not ask me questions when you got a gun pulled,’ that is all.†Officers were able to identify Thomas from the surveillance footage recording of the incident.
On June 21, 2023, SPD officers were dispatched to the parking lot of an apartment complex on East Elm St. in response to a 911 call reporting that people were exhibiting firearms within two cars parked in the lot. When officers questioned the occupants of the vehicles, Thomas told officers that they lived in the complex and were just smoking “weed.†During questioning, Thomas rolled a marijuana cigarette and smoked it in front of the officer. When the officer asked Thomas about the reported gun, he told them that he couldn’t buy firearms because he “smoked weed.†Thomas gave officers permission to search the car, and they located a backpack with ammunition and magazines that appeared to fit a Glock pistol.
When officers arrested Thomas, on Aug. 1, 2023, for a warrant issued for the June 1, 2023, incident, he was carrying the loaded Glock 29 that he brandished during the altercation at the Kum N’ Go.
Just two days after he was interviewed regarding the June 1, 2023, incident, Thomas went to a local federal firearm licensee (FFL) and attempted to purchase a firearm. On the ATF Firearm Transaction Form, Thomas falsely claimed he was not an unlawful user of or addicted to any controlled substance including marijuana. By pleading guilty Thomas admitted that he lied on the ATF Firearm Transaction Form in violation of federal law and, at the time he filled out the form in connection with the purchase of a firearm, he was a regular user of a marijuana. The FFL did not transfer the weapon to Thomas.
This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie L. Wan. It was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Greene County, Mo., Sheriff’s Department and the Springfield, Mo., Police Department.
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Defendant's Experts:
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