Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Jury Convicts Northern Ohio Felon of Illegally Possessing a Firearm
COLUMBUS, Ohio – A U.S. District Court jury convicted Richard Jerel Doyle, 32, of Brooklyn, Ohio of illegally possessing a firearm when Columbus Police arrested him in March 2016.
Benjamin C. Glassman, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Brad Earman, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Columbus Police Chief Kimberley Jacobs announced the verdict returned September 27 following a two-day trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr.
A Columbus Police officer arrested Doyle on March 18, 2016 after a victim called police and said that Doyle drove up next to her while she was walking along Cleveland Avenue. The victim told officers that Doyle assaulted her with a loaded firearm and that she was able to run away from him. She telephoned 911 and reported the incident. An officer met with the victim and asked for a description of the man. According to testimony, the victim looked up, saw Doyle in his 1994 Cadillac Deville and said “That’s him! Oh my God.”
Doyle drove away and officers followed him before stopping him without incident along I-71. They searched his car and found a .380 caliber handgun and ammunition.
On July 27, 2016, a grand jury indicted Doyle, who had been convicted in Cuyahoga County in 2010 on charges of drug trafficking and drug possession and in 2005 on charges of sexual battery and robbery. Federal law prohibits people convicted of felonies from owning, possessing or controlling firearms. The same restrictions apply to ammunition.
Possession of a firearm by a convicted felon is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Judge Sargus will schedule a sentencing hearing following a pre-sentence investigation by the court. Doyle has been in custody since his arrest.
Acting U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the investigation by agencies on the ATF task force, as well as Assistant U.S. Attorneys Salvador A. Dominguez and Jonathan J.C. Grey who represented the United States in this case.
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