Jefferson County Man Convicted on Drug and Gun Charges

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – A federal jury has convicted a Jefferson County man on drug and gun charges, announced U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona.

The jury returned a guilty verdict against Jaylin Artez Patton, 29, of Birmingham, Alabama, after three days of testimony before U.S. District Court Judge Annemarie C. Axon. Patton was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of a machinegun, possession of fentanyl, and possession of a firearm during a drug trafficking crime. 

According to evidence presented at trial, officers with the Birmingham Police Department, along with assistance from agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, attempted to make a traffic stop on Patton to execute an arrest warrant. Patton fled the scene and officers pursued him. Patton refused to stop his vehicle and drove off the interstate into a ditch and a fence. Patton exited the vehicle and fled on foot. Shortly after a foot pursuit, officers apprehended Patton. Officers recovered fentanyl and a Glock pistol that had been converted to a machinegun using a machinegun conversion device, commonly referred to as a “Glock switch.”

The ATF investigated the case, along with the Birmingham Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys William R. McComb and Darius Greene are prosecuting the case.