Jackson Man Pleads Guilty under Project EJECT to Illegally Possessing Gun

Jackson, Miss. –  Johnny Jerome Morgan, 38, of Jackson, pled guilty today before U.S. District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate to being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Kirk Thielhorn, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

On December 30, 2018, Jackson police officers responded to a call requesting assistance from a woman to enter her residence to retrieve her belongings.  The woman needed police assistance because her boyfriend, Johnny Jerome Morgan, was inside and she was afraid that he might hurt her when he realized she was leaving.  The woman alerted the officers that Morgan was a convicted felon and had an assault rifle inside the residence.  Morgan was inside the residence when police entered.  The officers found the assault rifle where the woman told them it would be.  Morgan denied owning or possessing the rifle, but evidence in the form of pictures, witness statements and a recorded phone call all indicated that Morgan purchased the rifle a few years earlier.

Morgan was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 3, 2019.  He will be sentenced by Judge Wingate on October 16, 2019, and faces a maximum penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Charles W. Kirkham.This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for "Empower Justice Expel Crime Together." PSN is bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions 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.