Coleman Convicted Felon Pleads Guilty to Possessing a Firearm After Massacre Threat at Coleman School

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Lorenzo Hale, 52, of Coleman, Texas, appeared in federal court this afternoon and pleaded guilty before U.S. Magistrate Judge E. Scott Frost to one count of convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox of the Northern District of Texas.

Hale faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten years in federal prison, and a $250,000 fine.  Hale will remain in custody pending a sentencing date to be set by the Honorable Sam R. Cummings, Senior United States District Court Judge.

According to the plea agreement factual resume filed in the case, on February 15, 2018, law enforcement was dispatched to a residence in Coleman, Texas, to investigate a complaint about a threat being made. The officer went to that location and met with Hale. Hale stated that he had been threatened. Hale further stated that “If one hair on both my daughters’ head are harmed tomorrow, there will be a massacre. I want you to know I’m reporting it to you like that, there will be a massacre at that school.” Later in the conversation, Hale alluded to a firearm being in the residence.

The next day, a Texas Ranger and the Chief of the Coleman Police Department made contact with Hale’s girlfriend. They told her of Hale’s threat and asked if she would surrender any firearms to law enforcement. She agreed to surrender the firearm located at the residence.

Further investigation revealed that before Hale possessed the firearm, he had been convicted in a court of a crime punishable by imprisonment for a term in excess of one year. Specifically, on December 16, 2005, Hale was convicted of being a Convicted Felon in Possession of a Firearm, in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, San Angelo Division, and sentenced to 51 months imprisonment.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Coleman Police Department and the Texas Rangers, Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Haag is in charge of the prosecution.