Man Receives Sentence After 2023 Standoff With Officers

(LibertyInsider.org) – US District Judge Marc Treadwell sentenced Reynaldo Smith, 33, of Warner Robins, Georgia, to 300 months (25 years) in federal prison and five years of supervised release on July 5. Smith had pleaded guilty to using a firearm in the commission of a violent crime and aggravated assault on a law enforcement official on July 3.

On January 31, 2023, the US Marshals Service (USMS) worked with state and local law enforcement agencies and received information on Smith’s whereabouts. The state had outstanding felony warrants for Smith’s arrest. The USMS team attempted to serve search and arrest warrants on Smith at the reported location, but he fired at officers after answering the door and shutting it, resulting in a standoff.

A Warner Robins man Renaldo Smith was sentenced to 25 years for shooting at officers during a 2023 standoff. https://t.co/YJhGGGU6Do

— 41NBC / WMGT-DT (@41NBC) July 5, 2024

The Justice Department coordinated the Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program in May 2021. It included a special interagency group, the Southeast Regional Fugitive Task Force (SERFTF), comprised of USMS marshals and trained and deputized local and state law enforcement officers, designed “to arrest violent state and local fugitives,” according to Marshal Stephen Lynn. While he called the work “dangerous,” he pointed out that the incident served as an example of how law enforcement officials keep communities safer. He added, “It was a job well done.”

The Warner Robins Police Department (WRPD) responded with Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) and Hostage Negotiator teams. Despite hours of negotiations, the SWAT team finally deployed pepper spray inside the home, and more shots were exchanged between Smith and the SWAT team before WRPD finally took custody of Smith.

Investigators found a rifle and a Glock 9mm with a 30-round drum-style high-capacity magazine. Smith’s previous felony convictions for possession of methamphetamine and armed robbery precluded his legal ability to own firearms.

US Attorney Peter Leary commented on the case, pointing out that Smith had risked several lives by opening fire on law enforcement agents who had attempted to take him into custody. He commended the task force and WRPD members for their “bravery in the line of duty” and for safely and relentlessly “bringing the defendant into custody.”