Department of Justice

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – November 4, 2019 – Justin Jerome Jones, 31, of Nashville, Tennessee, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to three counts of being a convicted felon in possession of firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Don Cochran for the Middle District of Tennessee.  

According to the facts presented at the plea hearing, on February 7, 2018, residents of the Tony Sudekum public housing neighborhood called police when they saw Jones outside a residence, arguing with his 11-year-old daughter, before firing several gunshots into the ground near the young girl.  When officers from the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department (MNPD) arrived, Jones barricaded himself inside an apartment.  MNPD S.W.A.T. officers, as well as federal agents, responded to the scene and Jones then repeatedly fired at the officers.  One round struck an MNPD officer.  After several hours, Jones exited the apartment and was immediately taken into federal custody.

A search warrant was then executed at the apartment and officers recovered several spent shell casings; a cocked .357 caliber revolver; a .38 caliber revolver; and parts from a 9mm pistol.  Additional firearms parts and boxes of ammunition were also recovered from the apartment the following day.  The investigation also determined that Jones had previously brandished the 9mm pistol at another person.

Jones had previously been convicted of aggravated robbery in Davidson County, Tennessee, in 2007, and was also convicted of aggravated robbery in Hamilton County, Ohio, in 2009, relating to armed bank robbery.  Jones was released from custody in Ohio in December 2016, and paroled to the State of Mississippi.

Jones faces up to 30 years in prison when he is sentenced on March 13, 2020.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Metropolitan Nashville Police Department.  Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sunny A.M. Koshy and Joseph Montminy are prosecuting the case. 

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