Austin man pleads guilty to possessing guns as a felon

Published 10:23 am Thursday, June 12, 2014

An Austin man pleaded guilty last Thursday to possessing a gun despite having previous felony convictions.

Morgan Dwayne Pratt, 20, was arrested a little after 3 a.m. on Jan. 29 after police came upon a car with its lights on at the 700 block of 12th Avenue Northwest. Officers became suspicious when the car turned off its lights and two people inside the car appeared to be hiding.

Morgan got out of the driver’s side and tried to tell police he wasn’t driving. Police found a .22 caliber Cimarron handgun on Morgan and took him into custody when Morgan tried to tell officers it was a BB gun. Officers later found a .9 mm Smith and Wesson on the driver’s side floor of the vehicle, as well as a glass bong. Morgan and the passenger had told police they already smoked the marijuana inside the bong.

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Morgan was taken to the Mower County Jail, where he tested 0.07 blood alcohol content. He also told police he had borrowed the guns from another person, who later told police Morgan had taken the guns from his home without permission.

Morgan previously had a juvenile adjudication for second-degree burglary in November of 2012.