Man faces 9 charges in Gautier shooting of U.S. Marshals Task Force member
The man who allegedly shot a member of a U.S. Marshals Service Task Force outside a Gautier hotel has been charged on nine different counts after a federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 28.
Joseph D. Sonnier has been charged with four counts of assault on a federal officer or employee of the government, one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and four counts of discharging a firearm in connection with a violent crime, according to a release from U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Special Agent in Charge Michelle Sutphin with the FBI.
Sonnier, 31, will have his initial appearance before United States Magistrate Judge John Gargiulo in Gulfport on Aug. 6.
Sonnier shot at a member of the task force, striking him in the neck while the task force was executing a search warrant on the morning of July 21, the indictment says.
The agent who was shot was treated for non-life threatening injuries at Ocean Springs Hospital and released that day.
At the time of his arrest, Sonnier was wanted in Hancock County for two counts of kidnapping, two counts of aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a weapon by a convicted felon.
If convicted, Sonnier faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count of assaulting a federal officer, a maximum penalty of 10 years for being a felon in possession of a firearm and 10 years on each count of discharging a firearm in connection with a violent crime.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Erica Rose.
