Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Hattiesburg, Miss. – A Laurel man was sentenced today to 48 months in prison for being a felon in possession of multiple firearms, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca of the Southern District of Mississippi and Kurt Thielhorn, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to court documents, on October 19, 2019, Jacob Daniel Williams, 26, of Laurel, was found in possession of four firearms while passing through a checkpoint being operated by the Jones County Sheriff’s Office.  The firearms included three shotguns and a pistol.  Williams had been convicted of drug possession felonies in Jones County in 2016.

Williams was indicted for this offense on June 23, 2020, and pled guilty on March 23, 2021.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Jones County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Andrew W. Eichner.

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.