Springfield Man Sentenced to 15 Years for Illegal Firearms

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Tom Larson, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Missouri, announced that a Springfield, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for illegally possessing firearms.

Christopher M. Behn, 40, of Springfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge M. Douglas Harpool to 15 years and eight months in federal prison without parole. Behn was sentenced as an armed career criminal due to his prior felony convictions.

On May 4, 2017, Behn pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms.

Springfield police officers executed a search warrant at Behn’s residence on Nov. 4, 2015. Officers found a Springfield Armory .45-caliber semi-automatic pistol in a portable trailer in the driveway and a DSA .223-caliber semi-automatic rifle in a metal outbuilding on the south side of the trailer.

Under federal law, it is illegal for anyone who has been convicted of a felony to be in possession of any firearm or ammunition. Behn has three prior felony convictions for possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance, two prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance, and prior felony convictions for conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance, car theft, threatening with a deadly weapon, unlawful possession of a weapon by a previous offender, possession of a methamphetamine precursor drug with the intent to manufacture methamphetamine, and resisting arrest.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nhan D. Nguyen. It was investigated by the Springfield, Mo., Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.