Sherwood, Arkansas – A federal jury has convicted Keith Harris, a 24-year-old man from Sherwood, of being a felon in possession of a firearm, following a two-day trial in U.S. District Court. The jury deliberated for approximately two hours before returning a guilty verdict Wednesday evening to Judge D.P. Marshall, Jr., who will sentence Harris at a later date. Harris will remain in federal custody pending sentencing. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison.
The charge stemmed from an incident that took place on October 26, 2022, when a Little Rock Police officer stopped a Dodge Challenger for speeding. Harris was in the passenger seat. Upon learning that Harris was on active parole and subject to a search waiver, officers asked him to step out of the vehicle. During a search of the car, law enforcement found a Glock model 22, .40 caliber firearm under the seat where Harris had been sitting.
The federal indictment against Harris was returned on November 8, 2023, charging him with a single count, which led to the trial and conviction.
Harris’s latest conviction adds to an already violent and troubling criminal history. In 2019, at just 18 years old, Harris was convicted in Pulaski County of being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with a North Little Rock gas station robbery that ended in the murder of a U.S. Air Force airman. Harris had originally been arrested for capital murder and aggravated robbery, but later pleaded guilty to the firearm possession charge after investigators identified him as one of four people involved in the deadly incident. He was sentenced to five years in the Arkansas Department of Corrections and was paroled in October 2021.
Harris also has prior convictions from 2016, when he was charged as an adult with two counts of theft of property by threat of serious physical injury.
Now, following his federal conviction, Harris awaits sentencing once again — this time in federal court, where he could face up to 15 more years behind bars for illegally possessing a firearm while on parole.
