Alexandria Man Sentenced Over Machine Gun Hidden on His Own Child

ALEXANDRIA, La. — A convicted felon who used his 10-year-old child to hide a fully automatic pistol from police during a traffic stop in Pineville has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison.

United States District Judge Jerry Edwards Jr. sentenced Sheldon Doral Franklin, 33, of Alexandria, on August 21 to just over four years behind bars, followed by two years of supervised release. Franklin pleaded guilty in April to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Get our free mobile app

How the Traffic Stop Unfolded in Pineville

The case started on March 23, 2024, when a Pineville Police Department officer monitoring a license plate reader got an alert for a maroon Nissan Sentra reported stolen out of Opelousas. The officer spotted the car heading south on U.S. Highway 167 and tried to pull it over. The Sentra kept driving until the officer activated his siren.

Additional officers arrived and ordered Franklin, the driver, out of the vehicle. He initially refused to keep his hands visible but eventually complied and was handcuffed. When officers asked who was in the passenger seat, Franklin identified the 10-year-old as his child. He claimed he didn’t know the Sentra was stolen, saying his girlfriend had loaned it to him.

Child Concealed Loaded Pistol With Illegal Conversion Device

When officers told Franklin they needed to search the child, he refused to give permission. The child also ignored commands and kept a bag of chips pressed against his leg. As an officer moved the child’s arms out of the way, he felt what turned out to be a handgun hidden between the chip bag and the child’s leg.

Franklin then ran on foot but was caught quickly. Officers recovered the weapon: a loaded Glock Model 23 .40-caliber pistol fitted with a Machine Gun Conversion Device, commonly known as a switch, which makes a semi-automatic handgun fire fully automatic.

U.S. Attorney Zachary A. Keller addressed the case directly in a statement announcing the sentence. “This defendant recklessly used a 10-year-old child to hide a fully automatic weapon and then ran from law enforcement to escape the consequences,” Keller said. “Machinegun conversion devices are extremely dangerous, and our Office will continue to hold accountable those who endanger children, community members, and police officers by illegally possessing these dangerous weapons.”

Case Brought Under Federal Anti-Violence Initiative

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and Pineville police investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert F. Moody prosecuted it with help from legal assistant Amanda Morgan.

Prosecutors brought the case under Project Safe Neighborhoods, the Justice Department’s nationwide program pairing federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement with prosecutors to target violent crime in individual communities. Each U.S. Attorney’s office tailors the program to the specific crime problems facing its district, and it now operates as part of the broader Operation Take Back America effort.

Court records and case filings are available through the Western District of Louisiana’s federal court system under case number 1:25-cr-00235-01.

You May Also Like...