Jackson Man Pleads Guilty under Project EJECT to Illegally Possessing and Discharging a Firearm During Robbery of Waffle House

Jackson, Miss. – Nicholas Thames, 20, of Jackson, pled guilty today before United States Chief District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Christopher Freeze, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

On October 27, 2017, Jackson Police Department officers responded to the Waffle House restaurant located at 584 Beasley Road in reference to an armed robbery of a business. Employees advised that Thames had come into the restaurant about an hour earlier to eat and returned with a red bandana covering his mouth and brandishing a firearm. Thames demanded money from the clerk and fired one shot before pointing the gun at the clerk as she handed him all of the money in the register. Thames then ran out of the store. Store employees were able to provide a description to Jackson Police Department officers who found Thames in the area, wearing the same clothes described by the employees, including the red bandana he used to cover his face.

Thames was arrested and officers found a large sum of money and a black handgun on his person. Officers also found several other items that the defendant admitted taking from a vehicle that he had broken into in the area.

Thames is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Jordan on August 7, 2018, and faces a minimum sentence of 10 years and a maximum sentence of life in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

U.S. Attorney Hurst commended the work of the Jackson Police Department and their cooperation with FBI agents and Project EJECT task force members. AUSA Abe McGlothin, Jr. is prosecuting the case.

This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime in Jackson through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for "Empower Jackson Expel Crime Together." PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.