Jackson Man Sentenced for Illegal Firearm Possession

Charles Brown, Jr., 42, of Jackson, Mississippi, is headed to federal prison after being sentenced to 18 months for illegally possessing a firearm — a conviction that underscores the city’s ongoing battle with violent crime and rogue vigilante behavior. U.S. District Judge Carlton W. Reeves handed down the sentence, which will be followed by three years of supervised release, and ordered Brown to pay a $1,000.00 fine. The case was prosecuted as part of Project EJECT, the federal initiative targeting repeat violent offenders in high-crime areas.

The trouble began on June 25, 2017, when Brown walked into the Jackson Police Department wearing a bulletproof vest and escorting a woman, identified as T.W., whom he claimed had information about a recent crime. Brown, who has no law enforcement affiliation, approached the station in a maroon 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee equipped with police-style dashboard lights mounted on the windshield. The vehicle immediately raised red flags among officers, who questioned him about weapons on-site. Brown admitted he had a firearm inside.

A search of the Jeep turned up a Rohm RG38 .38 caliber handgun, serial number 85594, along with a Winchester box containing 28 live rounds of ammunition. The discovery of a loaded firearm in the hands of a convicted felon triggered immediate federal charges. Brown’s criminal history includes a 2004 conviction in Hinds County Circuit Court for shooting into an occupied dwelling — the very offense that barred him from legally possessing any firearm.

On April 4, 2018, a federal grand jury indicted Brown on one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. After nearly a year of legal proceedings, he pleaded guilty before Judge Reeves on February 5, 2019. No plea deal softened the blow — federal prosecutors pushed for accountability, emphasizing the danger posed by armed felons operating with apparent police impersonation tactics.

U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst praised the collaboration between the Jackson Police Department, the FBI, and ATF agents embedded in the Project EJECT task force. “This case sends a clear message: you don’t dress like a cop, drive like a cop, and carry a loaded gun like a cop — especially when you’re a convicted felon,” Hurst stated. AUSA Erin Chalk handled the prosecution, methodically building the case to ensure conviction.

Project EJECT — which stands for “Empower Justice Expel Crime Together” — operates under the umbrella of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a nationwide effort reinvigorated in 2017 under former Attorney General Jeff Sessions. The strategy combines aggressive prosecution with community outreach and re-entry programs aimed at reducing recidivism. In Jackson, where violent crime rates remain a flashpoint, cases like Brown’s are treated as both a public safety threat and a warning to others who flirt with the line between citizen involvement and criminal overreach.

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