United States Attorney Steven Russell announced that Bath Par Kuol, 27, of Lexington, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 17, 2023, in federal court in Omaha, Nebraska, for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Chief United States District Court Judge Robert F. Rossiter, Jr. sentenced Kuol to 63 months of imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system. After his release from federal prison, Kuol will begin a 3-year term of supervised release.
On January 29, 2022, Omaha police officers observed a vehicle fail to signal its turn. Officers conducted a traffic stop and upon contact with the vehicle observed two open containers of alcohol. Kuol was seated in the front passenger seat. During a search of the vehicle, officers located a Glock 19x 9mm handgun with a loaded 33-round magazine inside of the center console. Further investigation showed the firearm was not registered with the City of Omaha. A records check revealed that both Kuol and the driver were convicted felons and therefore prohibited from possessing firearms. Both were taken into custody. Detectives obtained a search warrant to obtain a buccal swab of Kuol’s DNA and compared it to DNA found on the firearm. A forensic laboratory analysis determined the probability of the DNA being from Kuol as 108 trillion times more likely than from an otherwise unknown individual.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. This case was investigated by the Omaha Police Department.
