January 20 21018
A Dallas County man has agreed to plead guilty to his alleged involvement in a gun mill responsible for stealing and selling guns from the Selma Police Department’s evidence vault.
Richard Allen Canterbury has agreed to plead guilty to three federal gun charges, according to court documents from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Alabama.
Canterbury was charged with felon in possession of firearms, dealing in arms without a license and possession of firearms with obliterated serial numbers. The plea deal was signed by Canterbury on Jan. 12.
According to court records, Canterbury’s arraignment before Chief U.S. District Judge Kristi K. Dubose, which is when he will enter the plea agreement, is pending.
A date could be set as early as Monday. The plea agreement was filed in federal court on Jan. 17.
According to the agreement, Canterbury could be facing up to 10 years in prison for the felon in possession of a firearm charge and five years in prison for the other charges.
By signing the agreement, Canterbury waived his right to plead not guilty and to have a trial, as well as several other rights.
According to court documents, Canterbury was in possession of more than 280 guns, including pistols, revolvers, shotguns, and rifles.
A list detail each gun, caliber and serial number.
The weapons were recovered from a rented storage unit and his residence.
Adrienne Michelle Canterbury and Candice Ledbetter Byrum were also arrested for their involvement in the gun mill.
A Selma police officer that was over the evidence vault was dismissed from the department, but no charges have been filed against him.
Adrienne, who was an evidence technician for the Selma Police Department, was arrested on May 2 for allegedly stealing three pistols and fake gold chains from the department’s evidence vault.
The department started investigating her after they received a call from her son’s school saying he tried to sell the chains at school.
The investigation turned up three missing pistols, including one used in an April 14 homicide that claimed the life of 19-year-old Rufus Williams Jr.
A week later, she was arrested again along with her husband, Richard, and Byrum.
The trio was allegedly operating a gun mill that involved stealing the guns from the evidence vault, fixing them up and selling them.
The case was initially investigated by the Selma Police Department, but it was taken over the Federal Bureau of Investigation after a request from Selma Police Chief Spencer Collier.
