Joplin man sentenced to 84 months for being a felon in possession of a firearm (DOJ)

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. - A Joplin, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his illegal possession of a firearm recovered following a shooting.

Andrew Reed, 23, pleaded guilty on March 10, 2026 to unlawfully possessing a firearm. He was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 84 months in the Bureau of Prisons, to be served without parole. He will also be required to serve a three-year term of supervised release upon release from imprisonment.

On Feb. 15, 2025, officers with the Joplin Police Department responded to a shooting and located several spent shell casings and a firearm with a thirty-round extended magazine loaded with ammunition. Video surveillance from a nearby business showed Reed hiding the firearm underneath a dumpster.

Reed has prior felony convictions for battery against law enforcement and interference with law enforcement operations out of the state of Kansas. Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tony Brown. It was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Joplin, Mo., Police Department.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.