Federal Officials in Memphis Catch More Convicted Felons Using Handguns

 

Four convicted felons in west Tennessee have additional legal problems this month after federal officials said they somehow obtained firearms, with one man allegedly using his gun to assault a federal employee.

Federal and state laws prohibit felons from possessing firearms.

Bernard Jones, 35, pleaded guilty to aggravated assault of a federal employee and discharge of a firearm during a crime of violence. This, according to a press release that members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee published Monday.

“According to information presented in court, on September 4, 2019, at approximately 7:30 p.m., Jones was in the process of committing the crime of burglary of a motor vehicle. Meanwhile, the victim, a U.S. Postal Service employee, was preparing to take First Class mail from the Jet Cove Annex to the Memphis Processing & Distribution Center in downtown Memphis. While loading the mail into his USPS staff vehicle, the victim, observed someone moving around inside his personal vehicle parked approximately 50 yards away in the employee parking lot at the Memphis Priority Mail Annex. The victim drove the staff vehicle near his pickup truck and saw the defendant exit his pickup truck,” the press release said.

“The defendant shot multiple times at the victim as he escaped in his postal vehicle. As the victim drove away, the defendant followed him in a Nissan Sentra and continued to shoot. During the course of the investigation, United States Postal Inspectors determined two bullets struck the hood and several other locations on the postal vehicle. Law enforcement located two 9MM Luger shell casings from the shooting scene. The suspect, along with a female accomplice, fled the scene in a blue Nissan Sentra.”

Postal inspectors said they later identified Jones as the shooter. Jones, a convicted felon, also belongs to the Gangsters Disciples Street Gang. Authorities have scheduled Jones’ sentencing for March 24, 2021. For the aggravated assault offense, Jones faces a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison followed by three years supervised release and a fine of $250,000. For the firearm offense, he faces a mandatory minimum consecutive sentence of 10 years and up to life imprisonment; a $ 250,000 fine and five years supervised release, the press release said.

Members of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Tennessee this month also announced the following:

• Joseph Morris, 39, received a sentence of 150 months in federal prison for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, according to a press release.

• Federal authorities indicted Jason Wayne Autry, 46, of Holladay, Tennessee, for being a felon allegedly in possession of a firearm, according to a press release.

• Federal authorities sentenced Jeffery Garvin Townsend, 60, of Paris, Tennessee, has been sentenced to 78 months in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to a press release.

There is no parole in the federal system.

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Chris Butler is an investigative journalist at The Tennessee Star. Follow Chris on Facebook. Email tips to [email protected].