Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

TAMPA, Fla. – United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that Kenneth Lorenzo Jackson (48, Del Rio) has pleaded guilty to possessing ammunition as a convicted felon. Jackson faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 15 years in federal prison under the Armed Career Criminal Act. A sentencing date has not been set.

According to the plea agreement, on May 12, 2022, at approximately 3:45 a.m., a Tampa Police Department (TPD) patrol officer on patrol near Bush Boulevard and 14^thStreet North stopped Jackson, who was driving a grey Dodge Caliber, for not to wearing a seatbelt. The officer requested Jackson’s license, registration, and proof of insurance. Jackson grabbed a backpack from the passenger side footwell and searched for his documents. As the officer stood over the vehicle’s open window, he looked into the bag which Jackson was rummaging through and saw the handle of a firearm inside the bag. The officer reached into the vehicle to position the backpack opening towards the driver’s side window to confirm what he saw, then grabbed the backpack immediately from Jackson’s hands and Jackson was removed from the vehicle and detained by another TPD officer.

Officers discovered numerous plastic baggies containing a white rock-like substance in Jackson’s pocket during a safety pat down. The substance was Dimethylpentylone, a Schedule I controlled substance. Inside the backpack, officers discovered a Rohm Gesellschaft RG-12 .22 caliber firearm and six rounds of ammunition. An inventory search of the vehicle also revealed a metal box that contained a small amount of suspected cocaine and other drug paraphernalia.

Jackson is a multiple time convicted felon who has not had his right to own or possess firearms or ammunition restored, therefore, he is prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. At the time he committed this offense he knew that he was a convicted felon.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Tampa Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys David W.A. Chee and Shauna S. Hale.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.

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