MADISON, WIS. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Wisconsin, Western), published as received.

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Xavier Gentry, 33, Menomonie, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 54 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a loaded firearm as a convicted felon.  This prison sentence will be followed by 3 years of supervised release.  Gentry pleaded guilty to this charge on May 21, 2021.

On June 7, 2020, while outside of a bar in downtown Eau Claire, Wisconsin, Gentry pulled out a loaded firearm and displayed it during an altercation.   He then ran from responding officers, who arrested him in a nearby parking lot.  Notably, just seven days earlier, Gentry was sentenced to state probation in Eau Claire County Case No. 19CF1767.  That case charged Gentry for various crimes after he shot and injured a person and injured a dog during a drug robbery.

The term of imprisonment in this case will run concurrently with a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence Gentry is currently serving in connection to Eau Claire County Case No. 20CF774.  Gentry was convicted in that case for possessing cocaine with intent to distribute on the same night as this federal offense.

At sentencing, Judge Conley reasoned that additional prison time was warranted because of the great risk Gentry posed to the community when he chose to display a loaded handgun.  Judge Conley also noted that Gentry’s extensive criminal history, which includes 13 prior convictions and crimes of violence, also shows that he has been unable or unwilling to take responsibility or his own actions up until this point.

This case has been brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime.  The PSN approach involves collaboration by federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, prosecutors and communities to prevent and deter gun violence. 

The charges against Gentry were the result of an investigation conducted by the Eau Claire Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The Eau Claire Sheriff’s Department also provided assistance.  The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Taylor L. Kraus.