Source: United States Department of Justice News
Montgomery, Alabama – On April 27, 2023, Patrick Maurio Bass, 43, from Montgomery, Alabama, received a sentence of 240 months in prison after pleading guilty to federal gun and drug charges, announced United States Attorney Sandra J. Stewart. The federal judge also ordered that Bass serve four years of supervised release following his prison term. Federal inmates are not eligible for parole.
According to court records and statements made in open court, on August 14, 2020, the Montgomery Police Department (MPD) received information that Bass had a large quantity of illegal drugs in his possession. Later that day, MPD officers observed Bass at a Montgomery gas station, parked in a sport utility vehicle. The officers searched the vehicle. During the search, officers found significant amounts of cocaine and marijuana, along with a handgun. Bass is a convicted felon and was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
On June 6, 2022, a federal grand jury indicted Bass for being a felon in possession of a firearm, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute the controlled substance, and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. Bass pleaded guilty to these charges on December 19, 2022.
MPD and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case, with assistance from the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Joshua J. Wendell prosecuted the case.