Armed Career Criminal Sentenced for Possessing a Nine–Millimeter Pistol

MINNEAPOLIS — Earlier today in federal court, a 35–year–old felon was sentenced for possessing a nine–millimeter pistol. United States District Court Judge Joan N. Ericksen sentenced Jesse Lamond Jones, no known address, to 300 months in prison on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jones was indicted on December 14, 2010, and was convicted on July 8, 2011. According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, Jones was arrested in connection with a series of four shootings in St. Cloud that occurred between April 23 and May 10, 2010.

On April 23, 2010, shots were fired into a group of people walking in southeast St. Cloud. Just days later, on May 5, two of the victims of the April 23 incident were targets of another shooting, this time outside a St. Cloud bar. Then, on May 10, at 4:00 a.m., St. Cloud police received a report of yet another shooting and ultimately located two bullet holes in the wall of a St. Cloud residence. About seven minutes later, they received still another call about a shooting, this one at a St. Cloud apartment complex. Again, they responded to the call and, at the scene, found a woman who had been shot in the hand. An empty nine–millimeter ammunition magazine was found nearby.

Jones was later arrested in a St. Cloud trailer on an active warrant unrelated to the shootings. At the time of the arrest, officers recovered from the residence a nine–millimeter pistol that was missing its magazine. They also recovered additional ammunition. The ammunition was the same brand and caliber as found at the four shooting locations. The spent shell casings recovered from the scenes of the shootings were forensically matched as having been shot from the firearm retrieved from the trailer when Jones was arrested. The defendant’s DNA was also found on the firearm.

Because he is a felon, Jones is prohibited under federal law from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time. His prior convictions include second–degree burglary (1998), third–degree sale of a controlled substance (2001), third–degree assault (2005), terroristic threats (2008 and 2009) and simple robbery (2006). Since at least three of Jones’s past felony convictions were for crimes of violence or serious drug offenses, Jones was subject to the Armed Career Criminal Act in this case. That act mandated a minimum 15–year sentence if Jones was convicted in the current federal case.

This case was the result of an investigation by the St. Cloud Police Department and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys LeeAnn K. Bell and Kevin S. Ueland.

Note, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, an initiative launched by the U.S. Justice Department in 2001 to promote a multi–jurisdictional, comprehensive approach to reducing gun crime in America. PSN provides resources to strengthen law enforcement and crime prevention partnerships that work to make our streets and communities safer.