United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia
09/26/2025 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 09/26/2025 14:38
Armed Career Criminal Sentenced to 19 Years in Prison for Illegal Gun Possession
VALDOSTA, Ga. - A convicted felon with a lengthy criminal past was sentenced to serve nearly two decades in prison after he was found guilty at trial of illegally possessing a firearm while outside a Dollar General store in Valdosta.
Donald Patrick Parr, 69, of Ocilla, Georgia, and formerly of Valdosta, Georgia, and Jennings, Florida, was sentenced as a federal armed career criminal to serve 235 months in prison to be followed by two years of supervised release by Senior U.S. District Judge W. Louis Sands on Sept. 25. Parr was found guilty at trial of one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon on May 13. There is no parole in the federal system.
"The penalties are steep for armed career criminals caught illegally possessing firearms in the Middle District of Georgia," said U.S. Attorney William R. "Will" Keyes. "I want to thank the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office and ATF for helping us hold repeat offenders accountable for their continued disregard of the law."
"Our partnership with local agencies like the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office is vital in tackling gun violence and ensuring that those with a history of criminal behavior are held accountable for their actions," said ATF Acting Assistant Special Agent in Charge Robert Davis.
According to court documents and statements referenced in court, a Lowndes County Sheriff's Office deputy responded to a call concerning a man-later identified as Parr-sitting inside a car at a Dollar General parking lot for over an hour and periodically falling asleep. Authorities discovered Parr was wanted for drug charges in Palo Pinto County, Texas. Law enforcement found a little over a gram of methamphetamine, a bag of marijuana and a .22 caliber revolver in Parr's vehicle. Parr has multiple prior felony convictions for possessing controlled substances with intent to distribute, making terroristic threats, aggravated fleeing and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Lowndes County Sheriff's Office.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Monica Daniels and Sonja Profit are prosecuting the case for the Government.
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