An Alabama man previously convicted of burglary and rape is in custody after being arrested in Columbus on a federal charge of possession of a weapon by a felon.
Kendall Bonner, 37, was arrested on March 29 for the charge, according to U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Mississippi. Bonner was indicted on Dec. 14, 2017, and a warrant for his arrest was issued the next day, according to documents.
According to his indictment, Bonner had a Romarm/Cugir Draco handgun on July 16, 2017. The indictment said the weapon had “previously been shipped and transported in interstate commerce,” in violation of federal law.
Susan Bradley, with the U.S. Attorney’s office in Oxford, said the charge is federal because it involved, in some way, the gun coming into Mississippi from out of state. She said that can include something as simple as the gun being manufactured out of Mississippi and coming into the state.
“There are three elements,” she said. “It has to be knowingly possessed by a convicted felon and moved in interstate commerce. We have to show, generally, that some part of it was made outside of Mississippi. If he possessed the gun and at some point it existed outside the state, that’s enough.”
Bonner was previously convicted in Pickens County, Alabama, for third-degree burglary in 2008, according to the Pickens County Circuit Clerk’s Office. He’s also been convicted for a 2008 second-degree rape charge in Tuscaloosa County and carrying a concealed weapon without a permit.
Bradley said Bonner’s arrest was a collaborative effort between state, local and federal law enforcement. He’s currently being held without bond in the Lowndes County Adult Detention Center.
His trial is currently scheduled for May 14 at the U.S. District Court in Greenville.
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