Bahamian fugitive, Bibb County Jail escapee sentenced on federal gun charges

A Bahamian fugitive and a Bibb County Jail escapee were sentenced this week in separate federal gun cases, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A Bahamian fugitive and a Bibb County Jail escapee were sentenced this week in separate federal gun cases, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Georgia.

31-year-old Chavis Stokes of Macon was sentenced on January 8 to 96 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. Stokes, who escaped from the Bibb County Law Enforcement Center in 2023, pleaded guilty on October 9, 2024, to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. After escaping, he was caught in Montezuma, Georgia, where law enforcement found firearms, loaded magazines, ammunition and suspected marijuana. Stokes will serve his federal sentence consecutively to his existing state sentences.

31-year-old Byron Bradley Demeritte, a Bahamian citizen living in Lithonia, was sentenced on January 8 to 60 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a machine gun on August 26, 2024. During a traffic stop on I-75 in Monroe County in May 2023, authorities found a stolen, modified Glock .45-caliber firearm, drugs and ammunition in a vehicle Demeritte was driving. He is also wanted in the Bahamas on an active murder warrant issued in March 2023.

“Our office and our law enforcement partners will continue to prioritize federal prosecutions against illegally armed, dangerous criminals,” U.S. Attorney Peter D. Leary said.

Both cases stem from Project Safe Neighborhoods investigations aimed at reducing violent crime. There is no parole in the federal system.