Previously convicted felons, including an armed career criminal, sentenced to prison on gun charges

SAVANNAH, Georgia: One man caught carrying a gun in Savannah's mall and another who fired shots in a neighborhood face years in prison on firearms charges after sentencings in federal court.

Herman Lamont Dessasure, 43, of Savannah, and Darvin Prest Morris, 41, of Ludowici, Georgia, each were sentenced to federal prison after pleading guilty to Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, said Margaret E. "Meg" Heap, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia.

U.S. District Court Judge Lisa Godbey Wood determined that Dessasure was an armed career criminal because of at least three prior violent felony convictions, and under enhanced sentencing guidelines sentenced him to 170 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release.

Judge Wood sentenced Morris to 110 months in prison, fined him $1,000 and ordered him to serve three years of supervised release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

"Our commitment to safe communities means absolutely no tolerance for convicted felons carrying guns," said U.S. Attorney Heap. "If you're prohibited from possessing a firearm because of a history of committing crimes, we'll work with our law enforcement partners to take you off the streets."

Dessasure, who has a substantial criminal history, was arrested in November 2021 when an Oglethorpe Mall security guard spotted what appeared to be the outline of a firearm under Dessasure's shirt and alerted Savannah police. An officer found a pistol tucked in Dessasure's waistband in violation of mall rules, and determined that Dessasure's prior felony convictions prohibited him from possessing firearms.

Morris, who previously was convicted in federal court for illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon, was indicted after an April 2021 incident in which citizens of a McIntosh County neighborhood detained Morris for police after he drove through a man's yard, brandished a firearm and fired multiple shots.

The cases were prosecuted for the United States by Southern District of Georgia Assistant U.S. Attorneys Makeia R. Jonese, John P. Harper III, and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren C. Olsen.