Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Memphis, TN – A federal jury recently returned a guilty verdict in the case of an armed career offender accused of a firearm offense. Turante Nunn, 33, faces a minimum of 15 years in federal prison for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Joseph C. Murphy Jr., Interim United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee, announced the verdict today.
According to court documents, in January 2024, Memphis police observed an unoccupied stolen 2009 Pontiac G6 car with a broken rear window parked outside a BP gas station in Memphis. Officers secured the scene inside the BP gas station and reviewed the store surveillance video to see who got out of the stolen car. Officers determined that Nunn was one of the individuals who exited the stolen car and went into the store. The store surveillance video also showed Nunn discarding a gun on a shelf in the store when officers were entering the store. Officers found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm caliber pistol on a shelf at the exact area where Nunn discarded the object.
After a two-day trial, federal jurors found Nunn guilty of one count of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. In the second phase of the trial, jurors determined that Nunn was an Armed Career Criminal, as he had three prior felonies committed on occasions separate from one another.
As a result of his felony convictions, Nunn will face a minimum of 15 years and a maximum of life imprisonment as an Armed Career Criminal under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
There is no parole in the federal system.
This case was investigated by the Memphis Police Department, the Shelby County Sheriff’s Department, and the Project Safe Neighborhood task force (PSN).
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.
Assistant United States Attorney Jermal Blanchard prosecuted this case on behalf of the government.
###
For more information, please contact the Media Relations Team at USATNW.Media@usdoj.gov. Follow the U.S. Attorney’s Office on Facebook or on X at @WDTNNews for office news and updates.