Guilty Verdict for Parolee-Felon in Possession of Firearms

United States Attorney Joe Kelly announced that on July 24, 2020, Emmanuel John of Omaha was found guilty following a jury trial before United States District Judge Brian C. Buescher on six counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.  John will be sentenced on October 21, 2020, and faces up to 10 years’ incarceration on each of the six counts.  This was the first jury trial in federal court in Nebraska since trials were suspended due to COVID.

Between July 2018 and August 2018, John illegally sold eight guns to a confidential informant during six separate controlled buys.  At the time of the events, John, a Trip Set gang member, was out on parole for a robbery conviction.  Following his arrest on the federal case, John’s parole was revoked and he was sent back to the Nebraska Department of Corrections where he remained in custody. 

As a now three-time convicted felon, John’s arrest was part of a Project Safe Neighborhood initiative and a larger operation to make controlled purchases of firearms and narcotics, which targeted members of the Trip Set and African Pride gangs.  This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Omaha Police Department.  Project Safe Neighborhood is a national initiative of the Department of Justice that was announced in 2001 to reduce and prevent violent crime and make the nation’s neighborhoods safer.