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Press Release

Orange County felon sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping at gunpoint and possession of a firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Southern District of Florida

MIAMI – On October 2, a man was sentenced to 20 years in prison for kidnapping and two felon in possession of a firearm charges.

On August 14, 2022, Marques Deon Jones, 41, of Orange County, pistol-whipped his girlfriend, an employee of a Port St. Lucie group home located near SE Walton Road, and forced her to leave with him in her vehicle. A group home supervisor, who witnessed the kidnapping, notified Port St. Lucie Police Department, who identified Jones.

The following day, the U.S. Marshals Florida Regional Fugitive Task Force located Jones outside of a private residence in Fort Pierce and arrested him. As task force officers approached Jones, he retrieved a firearm from a parked car and attempted to flee. Footage from a law enforcement body worn camera showed Jones admitting that he retrieved the firearm because he wanted officers to shoot and kill him.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Christopher A. Robinson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Division, and U.S. Marshal Gadyaces S. Serralta of the U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Senior Judge James I. Cohn, sitting in Fort Pierce.

ATF Fort Pierce Field Office and USMS investigated the case with assistance from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, Port St. Lucie Police Department and Fort Pierce Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Breezye Telfair and Justin Hoover prosecuted the case.

Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov under case number 22-cr-14069.

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Contact

Public Affairs Unit

U.S. Attorney’s Office

Southern District of Florida

USAFLS.News@usdoj.gov

Updated October 3, 2023

Topics
Firearms Offenses
Violent Crime