GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — A paroled felon faces a federal weapons charge after he was found with several firearms reported stolen earlier this month in Sparta and Kentwood.
Tommy Lee Libbett, Jr., 24, is named in a criminal complaint that accuses him of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
A 2014 home invasion conviction in Grand Rapids precludes Libbett from having a firearm. He got out of prison last fall.
Libbett and three juveniles were arrested last week by Wyoming police responding to suspicious activity at a home construction site on 39th Street SW.
Officers recovered a backpack containing nine firearms taken from a Sparta gun store. A firearm taken from a Kentwood gun store was found in a garage.
Libbett admitted to his involvement in the gun store thefts, according to a criminal complaint filed by Geoffrey Yandl, a special agent with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Libbett told investigators he and others broke into Armory Valentine in Kentwood by smashing the glass door. Libbett and the others stole six firearms prior to fleeing the area, according to the criminal complaint.
They then drove to Sparta and broke into Imperial Gunworx, Yandl wrote in the criminal complaint. Once inside, they smashed a glass display case and stole 20 firearms.
“Libbett put the firearms he stole into a backpack. Libbett later hid the backpack of firearms at an unoccupied house on 39th Street SW,’’ Yandl wrote.
The recovered firearms include five 9mm handguns, court records show.
One of the juveniles arrested was 14 years old and the other two were 16 years old. They had appearances last week at the Kent County Courthouse on multiple charges, including breaking and entering and larceny of firearms.
Libbett, who was booked into the Kent County Jail on July 15, was released to federal authorities on Tuesday.
Libbett appeared briefly Tuesday afternoon in U.S. District Court in Grand Rapids. A preliminary hearing and a detention hearing are scheduled for Friday.
Being a felon in possession of a firearm is punishable by up to 10 years in federal prison and three years of supervised release.
The felony designation stems from a break-in that occurred in July of 2013 on College Avenue NE near Lydia Street. Libbett entered a neighbor’s home by removing a window air conditioning unit, court records show.
The homeowner awoke to find the air conditioner on the front porch, still running. Several items were taken, including a 60-inch television, an acoustic guitar and his son’s piggy bank.
Libbett was convicted of home invasion and initially sentenced to jail and probation. When he violated terms of probation, the judge sent Libbett to prison for a term of between four and 10 years.
He was released from state prison in late September and paroled to Grand Rapids.
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