Armed man asleep at wheel faces federal prison
May 17—A 36-year-old Brunswick man is going to federal prison for an incident in August 2020 when city police found him asleep at the wheel with a gun in his pants.
Doen McWhorter pleaded guilty May 10 in U.S. District Court to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, according to the U.S. District Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Georgia. The charge carries a maximum sentence of up to 10 years in prison, as well as up to $250,000 in fines and up to three years of federal supervision upon release.
McWhorter will be sentenced at a later date. He originally faced federal drug trafficking charges as well, according to Brunswick police and federal authorities.
Brunswick patrol officers came across a parked vehicle blocking a city roadway on the evening of Aug. 26, 2020. Police found McWhorter behind asleep behind the wheel and then found a handgun in his pants. Police also charged him with possession of narcotics with intent to sell after allegedly finding cocaine in the vehicle.
McWhorter remained Monday in the Glynn County Detention Center.
He is among nearly 800 defendants in the past four years who have been charged with federal firearms crimes in the U.S. Attorney's Southern District of Georgia. Most of those charges involve firearms possession by convicted felons.
"Our aggressive stance toward those who illegally possess firearms is a key part of our effort to reduce violent crime in the Southern District," said David H. Estes, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Georgia. "Identifying and removing illegally possessed guns from our streets automatically makes our communities safer."
