Jacksonville Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possessing a Short-Barreled Rifle
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard has sentenced Jonathan Donte Rogers, Jr., 22, of Jacksonville, to 21 months in federal prison for possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Rogers had pleaded guilty on June 1, 2023.
According to court documents, on Sept. 5, 2022, the personal vehicle of an officer from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Officer (JSO) was burglarized, and his rifle was stolen. The firearm was highly customized to include being a federally regulated short-barreled rifle with the officer’s name engraved on the lower receiver of the rifle. On Sept. 6, 2022, JSO detectives viewed an Instagram video that showed the rifle and depicted Rogers armed with the rifle and filming himself on a phone in the bathroom mirror.
Further investigation led to the execution of search warrant at the residence where Rogers resided. The firearm was found in a gym bag located on Rogers’s bed.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and JSO. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney John Cannizzaro.
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 of Justice 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.
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