A Marshall County man was sentenced Tuesday to more than 27 years in prison for illegal possession of a firearm.

According to evidence presented at the jury trial and sentencing hearing, Charles Derryberry was the 46-year-old leader of a Mississippi-based street gang, the Nines. In February 2022, Derryberry committed a string of robberies, and fired shots at one of his victims.

On February 27, 2022, Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office deputies received information that Derryberry possessed a large quantity of narcotics. Deputies stopped the truck Derryberry was riding in and found a gun under Derryberry’s seat.

At the time he illegally possessed a firearm, Derryberry had three or more felony convictions for crimes of violence or drug offenses and was subject to increased penalties under the Federal Armed Career Criminal Act (ACCA). Under the ACCA, Derryberry faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and up to life in prison.

Evidence revealed that Derryberry actually had 17 prior felony convictions on the day he possessed the firearm.

On June 20, United States District Court Judge Sharion Aycock sentenced Derryberry to 327 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release. There is no parole in the federal system.

“The defendant’s entire adult life has been spent committing an unending series of crimes, many of them violent,” remarked U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner. “The prosecutors and investigators in this case have made the public safer by ensuring that Derryberry is where he belongs – behind bars.”

“Sending a career criminal like this to prison is another example of our commitment to work tirelessly to protect our communities and hold accountable those who threaten our safety,” said ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Anthony Spotswood. “The sentence imposed in this case sends a message to individuals who are prohibited from possessing firearms that we will continue to work to keep our neighborhoods safe as the top priority for ATF.”

The Lafayette County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sam Stringfellow and Julie Addison prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels

of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence to make neighborhoods safer.