Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
PENSACOLA, FLORIDA – Louis Terrell Jones, 42, of Fort Walton Beach, Florida, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and possession of a machinegun. The plea was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.
U.S. Attorney Heekin said: “Our brave law enforcement officers are increasingly encountering and seizing firearms that have been illegally modified to fire as fully automatic machineguns. My office remains fully committed to fulfilling the promise made by President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi to Take Back America by targeting these violent criminals with the full force of the law.”
In November 2024, a deputy with the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office initiated a routine traffic stop on a vehicle driven by Jones. During the stop, the vehicle was searched and the deputy found a Glock 9 millimeter pistol with a machinegun conversion device attached to it. Jones is prohibited from possessing a firearm because he was previously convicted of multiple felonies, including attempted burglary, possession of a weapon on school property, possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, and aggravated assault by threat with a firearm.
Jones faces up to twenty-five years’ imprisonment, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.
The case involved a joint investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Tharp.
Sentencing is scheduled for November 6, 2025, at the United States Courthouse in Pensacola before United States District Judge T. Kent Wetherell, II.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America (https://www.justice.gov/dag/media/1393746/dl?inline ) a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
The United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation’s principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida website. For more information about the United States Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida, visit http://www.justice.gov/usao/fln/index.html.