Joel Daniel Dixon, Armed Career Criminal, Oregon 2015

MEDFORD, Ore. - A notorious Medford resident has been sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition.

Joel Daniel Dixon, 49, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge Owen M. Panner on Monday, March 16, 2015, after he previously pled guilty to the charge.

According to court records, Dixon will serve 188 months in federal prison, followed by five years of supervised release.

The charges against Dixon stem from a February 2013 incident in which a Jackson County Probation officer, accompanied by Jackson County Sheriff’s deputies, conducted a home visit on a probationer.

During the visit, a sheriff’s deputy saw Dixon hiding by the back window in a narrow space between the fence and the house. Dixon turned away, reached into his pocket and threw something down, and then walked towards the deputy with his hands up.

The deputy frisked Dixon and found a Colt .380 magazine loaded with five .380 rounds in his pocket. In the narrow space where Dixon was hiding, officers found a small baggie of methamphetamine that had been dropped on the ground, a gallon ziplock of marijuana bud, a backpack, and a leather satchel containing 584 grams of methamphetamine packaged for sale.

Under federal law, any person who possesses a firearm or ammunition after being previously convicted of three violent felonies or felony drug trafficking crimes is an Armed Career Criminal and faces a 15-year mandatory minimum prison sentence.

Dixon’s criminal history includes over 62 arrests, with 14 felony convictions, including felony attempt to elude police, manufacture of methamphetamine, possession of a controlled substance, supplying contraband, theft in the first degree, and felon in possession of a firearm.

This case was investigated jointly by Jackson County Parole and Probation Services, the Jackson County Sheriff’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas W. Fong.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/medford-armed-career-criminal-sentenced-15-years-federal-prison