A Springfield, Missouri, man has been sentenced to four years in federal prison after being convicted of illegally possessing firearms as a convicted felon.
Mitchell D. Gibbs, 34, received a 48-month prison sentence from U.S. District Judge Megan Blair Benton. Following his release, Gibbs must serve three years of supervised release. His prosecution was connected to Operation Spring Cleaning, a coordinated law enforcement initiative conducted in March. The multiagency operation targeted individuals identified as among the most violent offenders in the Springfield and Joplin metropolitan areas, resulting in arrests and the initiation of criminal prosecutions.
The investigation involving Gibbs began Nov. 25, 2025, when Joplin police responded to reports of gunfire. Officers arriving in the area stopped a vehicle in the parking lot of a local storage facility and identified Gibbs as the driver. During their investigation, officers discovered a spent shell casing near a storage unit belonging to Gibbs. They also spotted a handgun partially concealed beneath the driver’s seat of his vehicle…