Little Rock man sentenced to more than 16 years in prison for illegal firearm

LITTLE ROCH (KATV) — On June 6, Christopher Charles Mathis, a multiple-time felon, was sentenced to more than 16 years in federal prison after being charged with illegal possession of a firearm.

Jonathan D. Ross, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Arkansas, announced the sentence, handed down by United States District Judge James M. Moody, Jr.

On February 13, 2024, Mathis, 43, pleaded guilty in county court to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

On June 6, Judge Moody sentenced Mathis to 195 months in the Bureau of Prisons, followed by three years of supervised release.

Mathis was indicted on May 3, 2023, on one count of felon in possession of a firearm.

Classified as an armed career criminal, Mathis' sentence was based on the offense as well as his documented violent criminal history. There is no parole in the federal prison system.

On July 22, 2022, officers with the Little Rock Police Department responded to an apartment complex located in the 5000 block of West 65th Street in Little Rock, after receiving a 911 call regarding a male openly carrying a firearm.

Upon arrival, officers spoke with witnesses who identified Mathis as the person carrying the firearm. A witness said Mathis did not live at the apartment complex, had previously made threats against him and had been banned from the complex.

Mathis was located on the property and taken into custody. A maintenance worker located the firearm behind some dumpsters near the property, and witnesses confirmed it was the same firearm they had seen Mathis carrying.

Mathis has prior convictions for felon in possession of a firearm as well as prior convictions for residential burglary, domestic battery of a pregnant woman, terroristic threats, possession of cocaine with intent to deliver, and possession of marijuana with intent to deliver.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Little Rock Police Department.