High School Firearm Possession ...Felon Sentenced

United States Attorney Brandon B. Brown announced that Montrelle D. Jones, 21, of Monroe, LA, has been sentenced by United States District Judge Terry A. Doughty to 78 months (6 years, 6 months) in prison, followed by 3 years of supervised release, on firearm charges. Jones was indicted by a federal grand jury on January 26, 2022 and charged with Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Person and Possession of a Firearm in a School Zone. He pleaded guilty to the charges on March 28, 2022. These charges stem from an incident on January 14, 2022, when a Monroe Police Department officer working off-duty security at the Neville High School basketball game on the school campus was alerted by several individuals that there were a group of males fighting outside in front of the gym. As the off-duty officer made his way outside to break up the fight, he observed approximately 30 individuals who were in an agitated state gathering in the foyer of the gym. The officer immediately went inside the foyer and observed Jones lift up his shirt with his left hand and saw he had a Glock-style handgun with an extended magazine secured in his waistband. The officer went to Jones, placing one hand on the weapon and the other on his shoulder, and brought him to the nearest wall. He put Jones' gun on the floor and took Jones into custody. The officer observed several people flee from the foyer. Jones was escorted to the police vehicle and secured. The gun was taken into evidence and identified as a Glock Model 17, 9mm pistol. At the time of Jones' arrest, he was the subject of a court order which had been issued in Ouachita Parish, LA on June 25, 2021, restraining him from harassing, stalking, or threatening an intimate partner. That order included a finding that Jones was a credible threat to the physical safety of the intimate partner, which prohibited him from possessing any firearm or ammunition. The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Monroe Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney J. Aaron Crawford.