Convicted Felon With Loaded Firearm and Drugs Sentenced to More Than 12 Years in Federal Prison

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Charlene Honeywell sentenced Ronald William Jones (25, Orlando) yesterday to 12 years and 8 months in federal prison for gun and drug violations. On March 16, 2012 a federal jury found Jones guilty of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, possession of crack cocaine with the intent to distribute, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

According to testimony and evidence presented in court, Jones was apprehended by deputies from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office on February 8, 2010, after he was involved in a car accident while attempting to avoid a speeding checkpoint. After hitting a power pole with his car, Jones immediately fled the crash on foot, but was captured by deputies a short distance away. Inside of Jones’ car, deputies recovered a loaded semi-automatic handgun on the driver’s floorboard, a box of ammunition on the back seat, and a plastic container with 17.9 grams of crack cocaine in the dashboard. The serial number on the firearm had been intentionally removed. Jones subsequently admitted that the items in the car belonged to him. As a previously convicted felon for narcotics distribution, Jones is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff's Office, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement (FDLE) and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Robert E. Bodnar, Jr.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” program – a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy led by ATF. United States Attorney Robert E. O’Neill, along with Virginia O’Brien, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.