Previously Convicted Felon Sentenced for Possession of a Firearm And Ammunition

Greenbelt, Maryland – On March 7, 2025 U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis sentenced Jesus Manuel, age 44, of Silver Spring, Maryland, to 58 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

The sentence was announced by Kelly O. Hayes, United States Attorney for the District of Maryland, with Special Agent in Charge Toni M. Crosby, of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives- Baltimore Field Division (ATF).

According to the plea agreement, on October 28, 2023, at approximately 10:30 p.m., a Riverdale Park Police officer arrived at a restaurant in Riverdale Park, Maryland to begin work at his secondary employment position as a security guard.

Upon the officer’s arrival, a restaurant employee informed the officer that the defendant had attempted to enter the restaurant earlier in the evening wearing a fanny pack around his body that may have contained a firearm. The employee detailed the defendant’s physical description to the officer.

At approximately 2:30 a.m., the officer went to the restaurant parking lot after learning of an altercation taking place there. A male restaurant patron approached the officer and indicated that the defendant had threatened the patron with a firearm. Then, a second male patron approached the officer and indicated that the defendant had also threatened this second patron with a firearm. Both men pointed towards the defendant. The officer called for police dispatch and requested additional officers.

At approximately 3:10 a.m., officers saw the defendant standing near the restaurant’s kitchen door and approached him. The defendant was wearing the same fanny pack around his body.  The defendant saw the officers approaching and began to walk, then run, away. Officers chased the defendant across the restaurant parking lot, across Baltimore Avenue, and into another parking lot behind a fast-food establishment.  As he ran, the defendant fully removed the fanny pack from his body.  The defendant threw the fanny pack away from him.  The defendant was then placed in handcuffs. An officer retrieved from the ground the fanny pack that the defendant threw. As the officer picked up the fanny pack, he felt what he knew to be the muzzle of a handgun.

The officer then used a flashlight to see inside of the fanny pack and pulled out a firearm, specifically a Glock model 21 .45 caliber pistol, loaded with approximately 8 rounds of .45 caliber ammunition. The defendant was prohibited from possessing both the firearm and ammunition because he had at least one prior felony conviction.

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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone.  On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

United States Attorney Hayes commended the ATF and Riverdale Park Police for their work on the case. Ms. Hayes thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Brooke Oki and Dawn Williams who prosecuted the case.

For more information on the Maryland U.S. Attorney’s Office, its priorities, and resources available to help the community, please visit www.justice.gov/usao-md and https://www.justice.gov/usao-md/community-outreach.

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