St. Elmo man pleads guilty in federal court

By Editor | October 5, 2011 |

Timothy Shellenbarger, 22, of St. Elmo, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court East St. Louis last Friday to selling a stolen firearm and unlawful possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, according to the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton. Each crime carries a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and up to three years of supervised release after imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.
Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 13, 2012. Shellenbarger has been in custody since his arrest on Dec. 17, 2010.
Court documents state that on Nov. 17, 2010, the defendant sold an individual a stolen Excam, Model GT 27, .25-auto caliber pistol bearing an obliterated serial number.
The sale of the firearm took place at the purchaser’s residence in Fayette County and was recorded on video. The video establishes that Shellenbarger, carrying the firearm in a towel, entered the residence with a companion. Shellenbarger spent a number of minutes carefully wiping down the gun before handing it to the purchaser.
Court documents state that the purchaser set $120 on a table, and Shellenbarger picked it up and counted it. After a short while, Shellenbarger and his companion left.
During the transaction, Shellenbarger commented that the gun was stolen, that he scratched off the serial number and that he is a felon.
Following his arrest on Dec. 17 of last year, Shellenbarger gave an audio-recorded statement admitting the sale of the stolen firearm. He admitted selling or otherwise disposing of four other stolen firearms. The Excam pistol was submitted to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms for expert analysis, where it was determined that the firearm functioned as designed and was not manufactured in Illinois, and thus, had traveled in and affected foreign and/or interstate commerce to be present in Illinois when the defendant possessed and sold it on Nov. 17 of last year.
The defendant was previously convicted of felony burglary in Shelby County, on March 8, 2007, and is thus prohibited from possessing firearms.
The case resulted from an investigation conducted by the Illinois State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the prosecution was conducted with the support and cooperation of Fayette County State’s Attorney Stephen Friedel. The case is being handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kit R. Morrissey.