MACON, Ga. — A Macon resident with a long criminal record who carried a gun into a Macon Wal-Mart and aggressively waved it at customers was convicted by a federal jury of illegal possession of a firearm.
Selma Oliver-Smith, 45, of Macon, was convicted on April 11 of illegal gun possession by a convicted felon after a two-day trial that began April 10 before US District Judge Tilman E. “Tripp” Self III. Oliver-Smith faces a maximum of ten years in prison, followed by at least three years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine for illegal possession of a firearm. Sentencing is scheduled for July 11.
“Not only is it illegal for a convicted felon to possess a firearm anytime, anywhere, Mr. Oliver-Smith decided to walk into a neighborhood store and wave a gun at customers. Fortunately, no shots were fired and no one was injured,” said US Attorney Peter D. Leary. “Our office will prosecute convicted felons caught illegally wielding firearms, particularly those who wield them in public places.”
“When criminals like this use firearms to threaten individuals, the ATF takes it very seriously,” said Beau Kolodka, the ATF’s assistant special agent in charge. “ATF, along with our law enforcement partners, remains on the front lines of preventing violent crime and will continue to prosecute those who break the law.”
“The arrest and conviction of Selma Oliver-Smith demonstrates that the justice system will not tolerate dangerous career criminals who use a firearm to threaten innocent shoppers in a busy Walmart,” said Bibb County Sheriff David Davis.
According to court documents and evidence presented at the hearing, deputies from the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call from Wal-Mart on Harrison Road. in Macon on August 17, 2021 about a man aggressively waving a gun at people who approached him in the store. Known to officers due to Oliver-Smith’s criminal record, he was subsequently located at a nearby motel. Oliver-Smith was found in his hotel room, where officers found two firearms hidden in the toilet bowl tank. One of the firearms, a Jennings Firearms Bryco .380, looked exactly like the ones in the photo provided by Wal-Mart. Oliver-Smith has a long criminal record with convictions for burglary, larceny and second-degree criminal damage. It is illegal for a convicted criminal to own a firearm.
This case is being pursued as part of the joint federal, state and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s efforts to reduce violent crime. PSN is an evidence-based program that has been shown to be effective in reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a wide range of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime issues in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and re-entry programs to sustainably reduce crime.
The case was under investigation by the Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and the Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Bureau (ATF).
Assistant US Attorneys Sean S. Deitrick and Sonja Profit are prosecuting the case for the government.
