Catawba County Man Gets More Than 7 Years In Federal Prison

45-year-old David Christopher Ballard of Catawba was sentenced Tuesday to 87 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release for possession of multiple illegal firearms including a machine gun. The announcement was made by Lawrence J. Cameron, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Bennie Mims, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Charlotte Field Division, and Catawba County Sheriff Don Brown joined Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron in making today’s announcement.

According to court documents and information presented at the sentencing hearing, on December 27, 2022, deputies with the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office were attempting to serve Ballard with outstanding arrest warrants for domestic assault and communicating threats. Law enforcement found Ballard traveling in a vehicle on I-40, and Ballard was arrested without incident.

During the investigation, law enforcement determined that when Ballard realized the vehicle was being pulled over by the police and he would be arrested, he contacted another individual with instructions to get rid of his machine gun. Upon learning this information, deputies were dispatched to Ballard’s residence. When they arrived at the residence, deputies conducted a search and found numerous loaded firearms and ammunition.

The items found includied a machinegun, that being a Spikes Tactical ST-15 rifle, modified to shoot automatically more than one shot without manual reloading and loaded with 25 rounds of ammunition; a Smith and Wesson .38 caliber revolver loaded with five rounds; a Glock 22 .45 caliber pistol loaded with a 15-round magazine; a Bushmaster XM-15 rifle loaded with a 30-round magazine; a Mossberg 12 Gauge 500 shotgun loaded with an additional ammunition drum; a Surefire Suppressor; a Rugged Suppressor; a satchel with seven loaded magazines; .40 caliber and .45 caliber barrels; and additional loaded magazines.

The investigation revealed that Ballard had threatened to shoot his ex-wife on multiple occasions and had held the Spikes Tactical rifle to her head. During an interview with law enforcement, Ballard admitted that he possessed all the seized firearms and ammunition, and that he had converted the rifle into a fully automatic weapon. Court records show that Ballard has prior felony convictions and is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

Ballard will be transferred to the custody of the Federal Bureau of Prisons upon designation of a facility. In making the announcement, Acting U.S. Attorney Cameron thanked the ATF and the Catawba County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandon Boykin of the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte prosecuted the case.