Jackson Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearms Crime

Jackson, Miss. – Jarvis Kendal Haynes, 30, of Jackson, pled guilty today to an Indictment charging him with False Statement During Purchase of a Firearm, announced Acting United States Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Jack P. Stanton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Field Office.

“Honest compliance with federal firearms laws helps to preserve the rights of innocent gun owners while allowing law enforcement to focus on illicit gun trafficking,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca.  “These arrests affirm the Department of Justice’s commitment to prosecuting those who willfully violate our federal firearms laws.”

An original indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on August 11, 2020, charged Haynes with unlawful possession of a firearm by a controlled substance user, and false statement during purchase of a firearm.   

According to the indictment and testimony in court, on April 16, 2020, Haynes purchased a 9mm handgun from a Jackson pawnshop.  In completing the necessary paperwork for the sale, Haynes claimed that he was not an unlawful user or addicted to marijuana or other controlled substances.  Following a waiting period, Haynes returned on April 22, 2020, to the pawnshop to pick up the firearm, and also signed the federal form certifying that his answers remained true and correct.

On August 11, 2020, Haynes testified under oath in the United States District Court on a separate matter.  Haynes then admitted that he had regularly used marijuana for years prior, and that specifically in April 2020, he lied when he claimed on the paperwork to buy the firearm, that Haynes had not been an unlawful user or addicted to marijuana when he bought the handgun.

On March 30, 2021, Haynes appeared before United States District Judge Kristi H. Johnson in Jackson, Mississippi.  Haynes entered a  plea of guilty to Count 2 of the Indictment: false statement during purchase of a firearm, in that he admitted to being an unlawful user of marijuana at the time he falsely claimed the opposite on the federal firearms purchase form.

Sentencing is scheduled for July 14, 2021 at 1:30 p.m. at the Thad Cochran U.S. Courthouse in Jackson, before U.S. District Judge Kristi H. Johnson.  Haynes faces maximum penalties of 5 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000. 

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the work of the Special Agents with HSI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case, and United States Marshals Service who assisted with the arrest of the defendant.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.