U.S. District Judge Audrey G. Fleissig has sentenced Randy Wilkes, a 43-year-old convicted felon, to 40 months in prison following his involvement in a standoff with law enforcement in St. Louis County. Wilkes pleaded guilty in November to the charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
The incident occurred on October 5, 2022, when Wilkes was found with a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol by the U.S. Marshals Service and St. Louis County police. Officers were at his residence on Gardo Court in Bellefontaine Neighbors to arrest him due to outstanding felony warrants related to two violent domestic assaults.
According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin's sentencing memo, Wilkes refused to comply with officers' commands and hid in the basement, resulting in a standoff lasting over two hours. Law enforcement safely removed multiple children from the house before using various nonlethal methods such as pepper balls and gas canisters, along with a K-9 and camera-equipped robot, to locate him without compromising officer safety. The standoff concluded with officers forcing entry through an exterior basement door and arresting Wilkes.
Upon completing his prison sentence, Wilkes will be subject to three years of supervised release.
The case was investigated by the U.S. Marshals Service and St. Louis County Police Department, while Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Martin prosecuted it.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce violent crime and gun violence by uniting different levels of law enforcement and community efforts for safer neighborhoods. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched an enhanced strategy for PSN focused on building community trust and legitimacy, supporting violence prevention organizations, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and evaluating outcomes.