Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge Richard D. Bennett sentenced Corey Jones, age 38, of Baltimore, Maryland, today to eight years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a gun. Judge Bennett enhanced Jones’ sentence upon finding that that Jones had attempted to obstruct justice when he absconded while on pretrial home detention with electronic monitoring.
The sentence was announced by United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein; Special Agent in Charge Steven L. Gerido of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Baltimore Field Division; Baltimore City State’s Attorney Gregg L. Bernstein; and Baltimore Police Commissioner Anthony W. Batts.
According to court documents and statement made a today’s sentencing hearing, On July 4, 2010, Baltimore police conduct a traffic stop of a vehicle after observing a broken and cracked side mirror. The vehicle had three occupants: the defendant in the front passenger seat, the defendant's brother, who was driving, and the defendant's wife in the rear passenger seat.
After officers approached the car, they saw Jones’ wife in the back passenger seat attempting to remove a knife from her waistband. An officer reached through the window and took the knife from her, and then ordered her out of the vehicle. Instead of complying, she reached for her purse and the officer then opened the door and removed her from the vehicle. Once she and the purse were on the sidewalk, the officer saw the butt of a handgun protruding from her purse. The gun was later identified as a loaded.32 caliber handgun.
Officers then removed Jones and his brother from the vehicle. As he was being arrested Jones told officers that the gun was his and that he had put it in his wife’s purse. Officers took all three of the car's occupants to the station and obtained voluntary, post-Miranda, taped statements from each of them. Jones again stated that the gun was his, and that he placed it in his wife’s purse without her knowledge before they got in the car.
United States Attorney Rod J. Rosenstein commended the ATF, Baltimore Police Department and Baltimore City State’s Attorney's Office for their work in the investigation. Mr. Rosenstein thanked Assistant United States Attorneys Justin S. Herring and Paul E. Budlow, who prosecuted the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
