Prattville Man Sentenced to Nine Years for Illegal Firearm Possession

Harry Deonta Bailey, 33, of Prattville will spend the next nine years in federal prison after Montgomery Police officers found him carrying two firearms during a shooting they were called to investigate south of downtown Montgomery.

A federal judge sentenced Bailey on April 1 to 108 months, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g). Acting United States Attorney Kevin Davidson, who has led the Middle District of Alabama since August 25, 2024, announced the sentence the following day.

The incident unfolded on the morning of November 16, when Montgomery Police responded to reports of shots fired during a fight between a man and a woman just south of downtown. Officers arrived to find several people physically fighting. When they approached Bailey, he ran. During the foot pursuit, he discarded one firearm. When officers caught him, they found a second gun still on his person.

Bailey was barred under federal law from possessing either weapon. Prior felony convictions in both Alabama and Georgia made any contact with a firearm or ammunition a federal crime under § 922(g), regardless of how the guns were acquired or who originally purchased them. He pleaded guilty in December 2025. That distinction separates his conduct from lawful gun ownership: the charge turns entirely on who was carrying the firearms, not on how they were obtained.

Federal prosecutors in the Middle District of Alabama pursue these cases at one of the highest rates in the country, with felon-in-possession charges accounting for 40.2 percent of the district's federal gun caseload, according to U.S. Sentencing Commission data. Nationally, 96.9 percent of defendants convicted under the same statute receive prison sentences.

Bailey's sentence is nearly double what another Prattville man received for the same charge three years ago. In December 2022, Daniel Cole Ahearn, then 28, was sentenced to 51 months in the same district. The gap likely reflects the severity of Bailey's case: two guns, an active shooting scene, and a prior record spanning two states.

There is no parole in the federal prison system. Bailey will serve the substantial majority of his 108-month term before entering three years of supervised release.