District Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearms Offense Following Discovery of Guns and Drugs in His Apartment

            WASHINGTON – Leroy Jones, 32, of Washington, D.C., pled guilty today to one count of possessing firearms, including a short-barreled rifle, in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu, Michael Hughes, U.S. Marshal for the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, and Peter Newsham, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD).

            Jones pled guilty in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The charge carries a mandatory-minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a statutory maximum of life. The plea, which is subject to the Court’s approval, calls for an agreed-upon sentence of 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release. The Honorable Senior Judge Reggie B. Walton scheduled sentencing for Aug. 10, 2018.

            According to a statement of offense submitted at the time of the plea, on June 28, 2017, Deputy U.S. Marshals came to an apartment building in the 1300 block of Kenyon Street NW to conduct an eviction. Building management provided them with the keys to the apartment. The deputy marshals announced their arrival for an eviction and entered the unit. No one was inside. The deputy marshals observed suspected narcotics, ammunition, and a firearm in plain view and reported the discovery to the Metropolitan Police Department.

            Officers from the Metropolitan Police Department secured the apartment while a search warrant was sought.  The officers who secured the apartment locked the front door and waited inside the apartment.  While they waited, Jones returned to the apartment and unlocked the front door.  Officers came to the front of the unit and detained Mr. Jones in the hallway.

            Officers then searched the apartment pursuant to a search warrant. They found, among other things a duffel-style bag containing a Wyndham Weaponry .223-caliber short-barreled rifle, a rifle-pistol, two handguns, several high-capacity magazines and various types of ammunition. They also discovered in the apartment a ballistic vest, loose ammunition, a loaded magazine, suspected narcotics, and $3,409 in cash.

            The suspected narcotics were submitted to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and a lab analysis determined them to be mixtures of substances containing cocaine.

            In announcing the plea, U.S. Attorney Liu, Marshal Hughes, and Chief Newsham  commended the work of those who investigated the case from the U.S. Marshals Service and Metropolitan Police Department. They also expressed appreciation for the assistance provided by the DEA. They acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, including Paralegal Specialist Catherine O’Neil, Legal Assistant Peter Gaboton, and Criminal Investigator Derek Starliper. Finally, they commended the work of Assistant U.S. Attorneys C.B. Buente, Steven B. Wasserman, Emory V. Cole, and Vincent W. Caputy, who investigated and prosecuted the case.