Providence Man Sentenced to 117 Months in Federal Prison on Firearm Charge, Violation of Supervised Release

Jameel Greene was on supervised release in a previous firearm case when he was arrested in August 2010 with a weapon tied to a Providence homicide

PROVIDENCE, R.I. — A Providence man who was on supervised release having been previously convicted and imprisoned for being a felon in possession of a firearm was sentenced Thursday to 117 months in federal prison for again being a felon in possession of a firearm and for violating the terms of his supervised release, announced U.S. Attorney Peter F. Neronha. Jameel Z. Greene, 30, was on federal supervised release when he was arrested in August 2010, and was found to be in possession of a firearm that ballistics tests tied to a Providence homicide.

U.S. District Court Judge William E. Smith sentenced Greene to 96 months in federal prison followed by 3 years supervised release on the latest charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm; and a consecutive sentence of 21 months imprisonment for violating the terms of supervised release on the previous firearm conviction.

According to court records and information presented to the Court by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard W. Rose, on August 7, 2010, around 1:00 a.m., members of the Providence Police Department gang unit saw the defendant in a group and he appeared to be armed. The officers approached him and were taunted by a hostile crowd of onlookers. Before officers could check the defendant for a weapon he ran into the crowd.

During a brief chase, Greene dropped a weapon to the ground which was quickly picked up by one of the pursuing officers. A mounted police officer and his mount, “B.A.D. Boy” cornered Greene, who was apprehended by another officer as he tried to climb a fence. A struggle ensued and one of the pursuing officers was injured.

The seized weapon, a Sig Sauer .9mm, was loaded with 13 hollow point rounds. A test fire and ballistics examination of the weapon concluded that it was the weapon that fired the shots that killed Paulo Jorge Barbosa on July 12, 2010, outside of Club Balloons in Providence. The weapon was reported stolen from East Providence.

Greene, who has been detained since his arrest, pleaded guilty in February 2011.

The matter was investigated by Providence Police and agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).