Credit: U.S. Attorney’s Office, Southern District of Mississippi
A Jackson man was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, announced U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Jermicha Fomby of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to court documents, Theophilus Smith, 23, was found to be in possession of a firearm after the Byram and Clinton Police Departments executed a search warrant at a residence in Jackson. While executing the search warrant, three firearms belonging to Smith were located inside the residence. Smith has a prior felony conviction and is therefore prohibited from possessing a firearm.
Smith was indicted by a federal grand jury and he pled guilty on May 31, 2023 to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica S. Terrill and Matt Allen.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
