Convicted Felon Faces Weapons Charges Following Traffic Stop

Sherri L. Muse
Sherri L. Muse

A Michigan woman who told police she was in the process of moving to Plymouth wound up in jail in LaPorte County for possession of a firearm by a violent felon and theft of a firearm.

Officers responded Sunday morning to a report of a U-Haul truck that had been taken without permission by the leasee’s daughter and her boyfriend. LaPorte Police stopped the rental truck at the intersection of Indiana and Maple Avenues in downtown LaPorte, according to the incident report. Both the daughter and her male passenger told officers the mother, who was waiting nearby, was in possession of a stolen handgun.

Sherri L. Muse, 52, of Yale, Mich. told officers there was no gun in her vehicle, and that she couldn’t be in possession of one because she was a convicted felon. She reportedly gave the officers permission to search her car and signed a consent form.

The officers saw the barrel of a handgun sticking out of a pile of clothes in the car, according to the incident report. They confirmed the gun was reported stolen in Michigan. Muse told the officers she took it from her ex-boyfriend. She was arrested without incident.

Muse was charged with possession of a firearm by a violent felon as a Level 4 felony, theft of a firearm as a Level 6 felony and a misdemeanor count of carrying a handgun without a permit.

Investigators determined Muse’s daughter and boyfriend were helping her move from Michigan to Plymouth. The U-Haul and Muse’s vehicle were both impounded.