Feds add gun charges in Marco Denis case

The federal government has added charges against Plaza Towers owner Marco Denis, two weeks after he was charged in Greene County Circuit Court with domestic assault and kidnapping.

Denis on Friday was charged with possession of a firearm by a prohibited person, according to an online filing with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri. Prosecutors argue Denis was not legally allowed to possess firearms after he was convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic assault in the third degree in 2003.

Grantham Fiester Law LLC attorney Teresa Grantham, Denis' attorney in the county case, could not be reached for comment by deadline.

Federal court documents allege law enforcement found eight firearms while executing search warrants of Denis' residence during the course of the domestic assault and kidnapping investigation. The firearms comprised two shotguns, five semi-automatic pistols and a .22-caliber revolver, according to the federal government.

The federal court documents additionally indicate the incident earlier this month was not the first time Denis was suspected of allegedly possessing firearms illegally.

Denis has been held in Greene County Jail since July 15, according to online records. He was denied bond at a July 18 hearing, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Aug. 16, according to circuit court filings.

Denis, 49, was arrested and charged with two counts of domestic assault in the first degree, one count of domestic assault in the third degree and one count of kidnapping after allegedly taking the victim on July 14 to a secluded cove at Kimberling City and repeatedly beating her, according to past Springfield Business Journal reporting.