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Press Release

Battle Creek Man Sentenced To 10 Years In Prison For Possessing A Firearm As A Felon

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Michigan

         GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN — U.S. Attorney Patrick Miles announced that 38 year-old Javon Jones, of Battle Creek, was recently sentenced to the maximum possible term of 120 months in prison, following his conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon. A three-year term of supervised release will follow Jones’s prison term.

         The charges against Jones stemmed from his possession of a loaded, semiautomatic pistol in the early morning hours of November 16, 2015. After shooting eight rounds from the firearm near the intersection of High St. and Willow St., Jones sped away from the scene and led Battle Creek police officers on a vehicle chase through the surrounding residential area. Jones crashed his vehicle into a utility pole, which fell on his vehicle. Jones then accelerated his car backward toward police vehicles and officers and, once freeing his vehicle from the utility pole, drove forward in an effort to continue fleeing police. Jones’s car broke down shortly thereafter, and he was placed under arrest. Nobody else was in the car with Jones. Officers recovered the loaded pistol from the floor of the passenger side of the car. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives traced the firearm and determined that it had been stolen from the owner’s home approximately six months earlier.

         U.S. Attorney Miles commented on the danger posed by Jones: "This intense and dangerous car chase and crash followed Mr. Jones’s firing of eight shots in a residential neighborhood, across the street from a schoolyard. Thankfully, nobody was hurt that night. The 120-month sentence will undoubtedly serve to protect the public from such reckless and dangerous conduct by Mr. Jones."

         Jones was prohibited from possessing firearms because of his criminal record, specifically his five prior felony convictions. Among other factors that led to the ten-year sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Robert Holmes Bell said during the hearing that the sentence was warranted in light Jones’s extensive criminal history and the seriousness of the offense in this case, particularly the danger Jones posed to the public and to police officers, as well as the damage Jones caused. "The successful prosecution of Javon Jones highlights ATF’s partnership with the Battle Creek Police department, the Michigan State Police and the United States Attorney’s Office Western District," said ATF Special Agent in Charge S. Robin Shoemaker.

END

Updated December 6, 2016