Nacogdoches County Felon Sentenced for Federal Firearms Violations

BEAUMONT � A 31-year-old Nacogdoches man has been sentenced to federal prison for firearms violations. Lincoln Jerome Watts pleaded guilty on November 19, 2012, to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was sentenced to 90 months in federal prison Monday in Beaumont by U.S. District Judge Ron Clark.

According to information presented in court, on November 13, 2011, law enforcement authorities responding to a report of a disturbance involving a weapon encountered Watts in the 100 block of Zula Street in Nacogdoches. Watts consented to a search and was arrested after an officer discovered a loaded pistol in Watts� front pants pocket.

Further investigation revealed Watts was a convicted felon having been found guilty of aggravated robbery in Nacogdoches County; possession of a firearm while under indictment in the Eastern District of Texas; possession of a stolen firearm in the Eastern District of Texas; and burglary of a federal firearms licensee in the Eastern District of Texas, all in 2001. Federal law prohibits a convicted felon from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition. Watts was indicted by a federal grand jury on October 3, 2012.