Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SOUTH BEND – Erskine Jones, 31 years old, of Mishawaka, Indiana, was sentenced by United States District Court Chief Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.

Jones was sentenced to 46 months in prison followed by 2 years of supervised release.

According to documents in the case, in October 2022 Jones was on federal supervised release and state parole with active arrest warrants on both cases. When investigators found Jones, he had a loaded .380 semi-automatic firearm in his pocket. Jones’ prior convictions include two for robbery and one for felon in possession of a firearm. Any one of Jones’ prior felony convictions prohibit him from possessing the firearm.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with the assistance of the United States Marshals Service Fugitive Task Force and the St. Joseph County Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Molly E. Donnelly.

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 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.