Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Selma Man Sentenced for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm
United States Attorney Richard W. Moore of the Southern District of Alabama announced that James Floyd Jones, 31, of Selma, Alabama, was sentenced today in federal court for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Jones pleaded guilty to the charge in September of 2019.
On June 30, 2019, two officers with the Selma Police Department responded to a report of suspicious activity at Ford’s Grocery on Etheridge Street in Selma. The officers arrived at the store in separate, unmarked vehicles, and observed three individuals standing at the rear of the store. Two of the individuals fled the scene and were not taken into custody. The third individual—the defendant, Jones—ran from the side of the store to the rear of a parked vehicle, where he placed himself in a shooting position and pointed a rifle in the direction of one of the officers’ vehicles. Both officers exited their vehicles with their firearms drawn and gave Jones verbal commands to drop the rifle and to show his hands. Jones knelt down and slid the rifle underneath the parked vehicle. He then stood up, placed his hands in the air, and was detained and searched. Officers found a bag of marijuana and a loaded .45-caliber magazine on Jones’ person. The officers also recovered the rifle that Jones had slid underneath the parked vehicle— a Diamondback Arms model DB-10, .308-caliber rifle, which was loaded with a round in the chamber and 14 rounds in the attached magazine. The rifle had been reported stolen on December 3, 2017, from a vehicle in Prattville, Alabama.
United States District Court Judge Jeffrey U. Beaverstock imposed a sentence of 46 months’ incarceration, to be followed by a three-year term of supervised release. During that time, Jones will undergo testing and treatment for drug abuse. The court did not impose a fine, but the judge ordered Jones to pay $100 in special assessments.
This case was investigated by the Selma Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted in the United States Attorney’s Office by Assistant United States Attorneys Gina S. Vann and Justin D. Roller.
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