Two men sentenced for 2013 burglary of Georgia Bass Pro Shops

Two men were sentenced last week for stealing 17 firearms from a Bass Pro Shops in Macon, Georgia.

According to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office for the Middle District of Georgia, 32-year-old Dante Thomas was sentenced Tuesday to five years in prison, and 24-year-old Tabari Walters got 33 months on Friday. Both were also ordered to pay $14,619.83 in restitution to Bass Pro Shops.

Thomas, Walters and two other defendants all previously plead guilty to charges of stealing firearms.

The burglary went down on Sept. 29, 2013. After discussing their plan, the men reportedly broke into the Bass Pro Shops around midnight, with Thomas breaking the glass of an emergency door and then using a yellow crowbar to gain entry. The men then stole 17 guns from the firearms section of the store.

Agents later obtained warrants and found a matching crowbar in Thomas’ residence. The agents also used cell phone tower data to determine Thomas had been in the area at the time of the burglary.

“With the increase in violent crime and gun related violence that our communities are experiencing, including the recent murders of five law enforcement officers by gunfire in this area in recent months, the United States Attorney’s Office, consistent with the mandate of Attorney General Sessions, will vigorously prosecute all defendants who illegally obtain or possess firearms,” said U.S Attorney G.F. Peterman in a statement. “These defendants, and those to whom they would have sold or given these weapons, certainly fall into that category.”

The two remaining defendants, 24-year-old Jabari Walters and 35-year-old Kenneth Atwater, are scheduled to be sentenced in April.

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