Kings Mountain Man Sentenced On Federal Gun Charges
Tuesday, June 24, 2025, 7:15 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
CHARLOTTE, NC.- A 30-year-old Kings Mountain, North Carolina, man, and a convicted felon, will be spending the next eight-and-a-half years in federal prison after being sentenced last Tuesday for violating federal firearms laws.
According to U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson, on Tuesday, June 17, 2025, Phillip Leon Leggett, 30, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina and was sentenced to 102 months in federal prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release after pleading guilty to Being a Prohibited Person in Possession of a Firearm, Convicted Felon, and Posession of an Unregistered Firearm, “Ghost Gun.”
According To Documents Filed With The Court
According to charging documents filed with the District Court, during the fall months of 2023, members of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department were monitoring an area in Charlotte, North Carolina, for criminal activity. When Officers observed an individual, later identified as Leggett, who appeared to be hiding a firearm in the front pocket of his sweatshirt. As Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Officers approached Leggett, he quickly fled on foot.
A foot chase ensued, during which Police Officers observed two firearms fall from Leggett’s sweatshirt pockets. The guns came to rest along Leggett’s flight path. One Officer stopped to recover the firearms while other Officers continued to pursue Leggett until he was apprehended and taken into custody.
The recovered firearms were a black Taurus 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a fully loaded magazine and an unregistered privately made firearm, commonly known as a “Ghost Gun,” fitted with a 17-round magazine and a round in the chamber. During the subsequent investigation and records check, Police Officers uncovered that Leggett has prior felony convictions, including multiple felony robbery convictions, and is prohibited from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition.
