Vallejo Man Sentenced to over 3 Years in Prison for Possessing a Machine Gun

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jake Edward Howland, 23, of Vallejo, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Garland E. Burrell Jr. to three years and 10 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a machine gun, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court records, in Feb. 2019, Solano County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call reporting that someone was shooting a fully automatic weapon on the levee in the unincorporated area of Solano County, near Dixon. When deputies arrived, they spoke with a group of witnesses, several of whom saw Howland firing the pistol. When the deputies searched Howland, they found an empty .40-caliber high-capacity magazine in his pocket. They also found a .40‑caliber pistol nearby that had been modified to function as a machine gun. This was the gun Howland was firing moments earlier. Howland pleaded guilty on Aug. 21.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.