A 22-year-old Houston man, previously convicted of felony, has been sentenced to the maximum statutory period of 15 years in federal prison for illegal gun possession, details a release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. Avery Frank Bass Jr., the individual in question, had entered a guilty plea on March 22, after a crackdown by law enforcement during the Houston Violent Crime Initiative.
U.S. District Judge David Hittner, upon issuing the sentence, remarked that Bass was a true danger to the community, a statement contained in the U.S. Department of Justice's report, the man's criminal background includes three felony convictions for robbery, and they all involved the use firearms, which merited the prison term to be followed by three years supervised release.
The August 2023 arrest that led to this conviction was part of a larger initiative to address violent crime in Houston, particularly gun-related offenses; during the execution of an arrest warrant for aggravated robbery, officers found a loaded AR pistol and Glock 17 in Bass's vehicle. "Removing violent individuals who use firearms from our communities is one of the top priorities of my office," U.S. Attorney Alamdar S. Hamdani said, expressing a strong stance against firearms crimes and citing progress through the innovative program seeking to diminish violent criminal acts.
The collaborative efforts of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the FBI, and the Houston Police Department were central in building the case against Bass, leading to the decisive federal conviction; Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly Zenon-Matos led the prosecution alongside Trial Attorneys Ralph Paradiso and Shelia Lafferty of the Justice Department's Violent Crime and Racketeering Section. Bass is currently in custody awaiting transfer to a federal institution.
