Michael Lowell Bonjour, age 39 and a resident of Mustang, has been sentenced to over seven years in federal prison for the illegal possession of firearms, including a stolen and modified sawed-off shotgun, following a history of felony convictions. The announcement of the sentencing came from U.S. Attorney Robert J. Troester, according to an official release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Oklahoma.
In March 2024, Bonjour was nabbed by the El Reno Police Department on state charges after he was found to be illegally carrying a stolen firearm. It barely took half a year later, in September 2024, before the Oklahoma City Police Department arrested him again. This time, he was stopped in a stolen vehicle and discovered to swiftly be in possession of three stolen firearms, including the unregistered sawed-off shotgun mentioned before. Bonjour's criminal record wasn't short—prior convictions include bringing contraband into a correctional facility, possession of a stolen vehicle, and stalking.
The case escalated to federal attention when on November 6, 2024, a federal grand jury indicted Bonjour. He faced multiple charges including being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of unregistered firearms. By February of the following year, Bonjour plead guilty, admitting he knowingly possessed these stolen firearms and that one of the guns had a barrel modified illegally—a serious federal violation.
U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk passed the sentence on July 18, resulting in Bonjour having to ultimately serve 87 months behind bars, to then be followed by three years of supervised release. The court made it clear that the sentence was intended to send a strong message to would-be offenders and to help ensure public safety. As the investigation had been a collaboration between multiple law enforcement agencies, such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Edmond Police Department, Oklahoma City Police Department, and the El Reno Police Department, it emphasized the scale of effort to tackle repeat offenders and violent crime.
This case is part of ongoing collaborative efforts to address violent crime, falling under the umbrella of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a Department of Justice initiative. More specifically, it relates to "Operation 922," which is the Western District of Oklahoma's local strategy for action on federal crimes linked to domestic violence, as mentioned on the U.S. Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Danielle M. Connolly led the prosecution for this case, aligning federal law enforcement resources to prioritize and reduce violent offenses in communities.
