Oklahoma Man Pleads Guilty To Firearm Offense

On August 26, 2013, Jervares D. Davis, a 24-year old Norman, Oklahoma, man pled guilty in federal district court, in East St. Louis, to unlawful possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of Illinois, Stephen R. Wigginton, announced today. Davis is scheduled for sentencing on December 4, 2013, at which time he faces a maximum potential sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, not more than 3 years of supervised release after his prison term, and a mandatory special assessment of $100. Davis also agreed to forfeit the firearm.

Court proceedings revealed that on or about May 10, 2013, a law enforcement officer in Collinsville, Illinois, pulled over a vehicle, in which Davis was a passenger, for a traffic violation. During the stop, the officer noticed an unusually large amount of air fresheners in the vehicle. He observed that Davis and the driver of the vehicle were acting particularly nervous while being questioned, and both gave conflicting stories about their destination. Shortly thereafter, a Metro East Drug Task Force officer, traveling with a drug dog, stopped on the scene after passing by and seeing the flashing lights. Due to the number of air fresheners, overly nervous behavior and inconsistent stories of the individuals inside the car, the officers decided to let the dog do a sniff. The dog alerted the officers to the presence of narcotics in the car. The officers searched the vehicle and recovered cannabis, loose ammunition and a handgun hidden underneath the hood of the car. Davis admitted to purchasing the firearm in Oklahoma. A check of the firearm revealed that it was reported stolen out of Norman, Oklahoma. Davis has a previous felony conviction in Oklahoma.

This case was investigated by the Metro East Task Force and the Collinsville Police Department, and assigned to Special Assistant United States Attorney Neal C. Hong for prosecution.