Felon with Firearm Who Fled from Ocala Police Sentenced to More Than Four Years in Prison
Ocala, Florida – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Kayden James Billings (22, Oxford) to four years and six months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Billings had pleaded guilty on August 14, 2020.
According to court records, in February 2020, Billings was released from state prison following three separate convictions. On April 11, 2020, a female companion drove Billings to an Ocala gas station. She ran inside to ask the clerk to summon police because Billings had been battering her and threatening her with a firearm. Two officers from the Ocala Police Department quickly responded and Billings fled from the gas station on foot. As he ran across Pine Avenue, Billings discarded a loaded .45 caliber handgun, along with his driver license. Billings surrendered after the pursuing officer caught up with him and threatened to deploy a Taser. The firearm, which had been previously reported stolen in Marion County, was identified by the victim as the same one Billings had used to threaten and batter her.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Ocala Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael P. Felicetta.
This is another case as part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws. Initiated by the Attorney General in the fall of 2019, Project Guardian draws upon the Department’s past successful programs to reduce gun violence; enhances coordination of federal, state, local, and tribal authorities in investigating and prosecuting gun crimes. For more information on Project Guardian visit www.justice.gov/projectguardian.
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