TALLAHASSEE — A 30-year-old Panama City felon has been indicted on two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and one count of possession of a short-barreled rifle, U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin for the Northern District of Florida announced.
Stephen Miles Bishop appeared for arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Martin A. Fitzpatrick in Tallahassee. Bishop faces up to 15 years’ imprisonment on each firearm possession count and up to 10 years’ imprisonment for possession of a short-barreled rifle.
The case was jointly investigated by the Bay County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives with assistance from the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric K. Mountin is prosecuting the case.
Federal prosecutors tied the indictment to Operation Take Back America, “a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
The operation has driven a surge of federal firearms prosecutions across the Northern District of Florida, which stretches from Pensacola to Tallahassee and covers the Panhandle’s rural and coastal communities where gun crime has drawn increased law enforcement attention.
“An indictment is merely an allegation by a grand jury that a defendant has committed a violation of federal criminal law and is not evidence of guilt,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office noted. “All defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial, during which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Bishop’s jury trial is scheduled for Aug. 24 at 8:30 a.m. before District Judge Mark Walker in Tallahassee.