Jerome Lavell McBride, Armed Career Criminal, Tennessee 2020

Jackson Man Sentenced to 15 Years in Federal Prison for Being an Armed Career Criminal

A Jackson man has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Jerome Lavell McBride, 39, was sentenced on January 30, 2020, by Senior U.S. District Court Judge J. Daniel Breen.

According to court documents, on December 12, 2017, a law enforcement officer initiated a traffic stop on a vehicle driven by McBride after it was traveling at a high rate of speed on Highway 45W in Madison County. During the traffic stop, the officer observed a plastic baggy containing marijuana hanging out of McBride's pocket. A search of the vehicle produced a Lorcin .380 caliber pistol along with 15 individually wrapped bags of marijuana and $494.

McBride has previously been convicted of several violent felony offenses, including 2nd degree robbery, 2nd degree burglary, second degree assault, reckless endangerment with a deadly weapon, and aggravated assault. As a result, he was determined to be an armed career criminal under the federal sentencing guidelines and was subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 180 months.

'Convicted felons who possess firearms are an inherent danger to the community,' said U.S. Attorney D. Michael Dunavant. 'In this case, the defendant was an armed career criminal who continued to possess a firearm despite his prior violent felony conviction history. There is and ought to be a significant consequence for such recidivist criminal behavior, and this is one more gun-toter removed from our streets for a very long time.'

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the West Tennessee Violent Crime and Drug Task Force investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Hillary Lawler Parham prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

McBride was sentenced to 188 months in federal prison followed by 4 years of supervised release. He will serve the sentence at a federal prison to be determined by the Federal Bureau of Prisons.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the West Tennessee Violent Crime and Drug Task Force.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdtn/pr/humboldt-man-sentenced-15-years-armed-career-criminal