A St. Paul man with a criminal past, known by the street moniker "Peanut," will spend the next nine years behind bars for packing heat illegally during a bar-side shootout that exploded in violence almost three years ago. Anthony Charles Deberry, 42, faced the long arm of the law after a spat turned shootout by a local watering hole called him into account, resulting in a nine-year prison stretch, confirmed the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Details emerged that on an ill-fated September day in 2021, Deberry, following a heated exchange inside the bar that got him ousted and banned from reentry, lay in wait outside. Foolhardily following a group of men after closing time, Deberry whipped out a 9 mm handgun – laser site glaring – and shots soon rang out. Deberry, struck by multiple bullets and hospitalized at Regions Hospital, tried to stash the weapon under a car, but a watchful surveillance camera captured the desperate act, fumbling at hiding his gun.
Already forbidden from firearm possession due to prior felonies, Deberry's fate was sealed when a federal jury found him guilty on June 20, according to court documents. His sentencing took place in U.S. District Court, with Judge Eric C. Tostrud presiding, handing down the sentence which included a 2-level enhancement for obstruction thanks to Deberry's attempt to intimidate witnesses at his trial.
His long rap sheet notwithstanding, the investigation that brought Deberry to this new low was a joint effort by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the St. Paul Police Department. Putting another violent offender away, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Lindsey E. Middlecamp and Craig R. Baune lead the prosecution, having served justice in a case that highlights the challenge of curbing gun violence in the streets of St. Paul.
