Pineville man pleads guilty to stealing 116 weapons from Louisiana stores

A Pineville man has pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing 116 weapons from two Louisiana gun stores.

Salih Romelo Reed, 27, is scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 28 in Alexandria.

Reed pleaded guilty Aug. 4 to two counts of a six-count indictment filed against him in January.

Both of those counts accuse Reed of stealing firearms from a licensed dealer — on Sept. 1, 2019, from Sentry Defense in Youngsville in Lafayette Parish and on Nov. 14, 2021, from Guns-N-Ammo in Benton in Bossier Parish, according to the indictment.

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The 62 guns from Benton, mostly pistols, were found in Alexandria on April 28 after a call from security officers at Christus St. Frances Cabrini Hospital.

The Alexandria Police Department was notified about a car that had been left in the hospital's parking garage. Responding officers found the guns, and serial numbers revealed they had been taken from the Bossier Parish store.

Reed and a woman, Jessica Leiloni Moore of Alexandria, had been arrested a day after the Benton store burglary at a Simmons Street apartment in Alexandria, but none of the guns had been found.

The indictment states the 54 guns stolen from Youngsville included pistols, revolvers and silencers. It alleges that Reed, a felon, took 10 of those weapons from Louisiana to California.

Moore also was indicted in federal court in connection with the Benton burglary. She is expected to change her plea to guilty during a court appearance on Aug. 24, according to online court records.

They had been scheduled to be tried together in October.

Reed faces up to 10 years on each count and a fine of up to $250,000 per count.