A Jefferson County man accused of leading Greeneville police on a chase in a stolen truck on Jan. 3 pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court on Monday afternoon to a charge of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm during the incident.

U.S. District Judge Ronnie Greer, after accepting the guilty plea of James Larry Hurst, 41, of 2512 Muddy Hollow Road, Dandridge, on Monday afternoon scheduled a sentencing hearing for Sept. 29.

A plea agreement filed in the U.S. District Court case against Hurst indicated that, at sentencing, he faces a maximum possible punishment of not more than 10 years in federal prison on the firearms charge, along with a fine of up to $250,000 and three years on supervised probation.

However, if Hurst is found to be an "armed career criminal," the penalty would increase to 15 years to life in prison, followed by five years of supervised probation, according to the plea agreement.

Hurst was remanded to the custody of the U.S. Marshal pending sentencing.

The plea agreement filed in Hurst's federal court case states that on Jan. 3, he went to the Lowe's Home Improvement Center on the East Andrew Johnson Highway in Greeneville and stole a 2007 Ford F-250 pickup truck that contained a pistol and ammunition.

A short time after the theft was reported, according to the plea agreement, police began pursuing the stolen vehicle along the East Andrew Johnson Highway.

The truck later turned onto CCU Boulevard and then into a grassy field behind the Tractor Supply Company off the East Andrew Johnson Highway before becoming "hung on a concrete wall," according to the plea agreement.

GPD Officers Jeff Sowers and Daphne Justis and Greene County Sheriff's Department employees Wayne Kelton subsequently saw Hurst with a Ruger .40-cal. semi-automatic handgun in his hand as he exited the truck, the plea agreement said.

When Hurst saw the officers, the agreement said, he threw the pistol to the ground.

After Hurst was taken into custody, according to the plea agreement, officers found that he had possessed several ammunition magazines that contained a total of 98 rounds of Smith & Wesson .40-cal. hollow-point ammunition.

After Hurst was fingerprinted at the Greene County Detention Center, a computer comparison revealed that he had previous felony convictions in Cocke County Criminal Court for aggravated burglary and attempted aggravated robbery.

He also faces related charges in state court of theft over $10,000, vandalism and evading arrest in connection with the Jan. 3 theft of a pickup truck from the parking lot of the Greeneville Lowe's store and a subsequent pursuit by Greeneville police.

A Greene County grand jury indicted Hurst on those charges on May 1. He has not yet been scheduled for trial in Greene County Criminal Court.