Oklahoma City Man to Serve 108 Months for Possessing a Firearm After a Prior Felony Conviction

OKLAHOMA CITY – Yesterday, DEREK MICHAEL JONES, 38, of Oklahoma City, was sentenced to serve 108 months in prison for possessing a firearm after a prior felony conviction, announced U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Downing.

Jones was indicted in August 2019 with one count of possession of a firearm after a felony conviction, which stemmed from his May 2019 arrest by Oklahoma City Police Department officers.  According to argument made at sentencing, Jones shot at two men after they confronted him about a domestic violence incident. Jones had been previously convicted of felony conviction for Assault with a Dangerous Weapon in Oklahoma County in 2012.   Federal firearms laws prohibit convicted felons from possessing firearms or ammunition.

On September 16, 2019, Jones pled guilty to the indictment. Yesterday, U.S. District Judge Joe Heaton sentenced Jones to serve 108 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release.  In imposing the sentence, the Court considered the fact that Jones’ fired five shots at two men and also his four prior domestic violence convictions.

This case is the result of investigations by the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.  Assistant United States Attorney Wilson D. McGarry prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods and Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s signature initiatives to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws.  The local implementation of these initiatives in the Western District of Oklahoma is through "Operation 922" which prioritizes prosecution of federal gun crimes connected to domestic violence.