FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 12, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:12-cr-08-AWI

            FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Jalaam Paggett, 29, of Fresno, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

            This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Fresno Police Department as part of the Project SAFE Neighborhoods initiative in which local, state and federal law enforcement join forces to combat gun and gang violence.

            According to court documents, on December 16, 2011, Paggett made an unsafe lane change and evaded a Fresno police officer attempting to make a traffic stop, accelerating to approximately 85 miles per hour. When Paggett eventually stopped the car and was arrested, a 9 mm Smith and Wesson semi-automatic handgun was found beneath the driver's seat.

            Paggett has prior felony convictions for possession of a controlled substance and infliction of corporal injury on a spouse or cohabitant and therefore is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

            Paggett is scheduled to be sentenced on May 21, 2012 by Chief United States District Judge Anthony W. Ishii. Paggett faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

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