OKLAHOMA CITY - FREDERICK EUGENE JENKINS, 30, of Spencer, Oklahoma, pleaded guilty today to possessing firearms illegally based on his status as a drug user, announced Robert J. Troester, Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Oklahoma.
According to a criminal complaint filed on March 8, 2018, Oklahoma City Police Officers determined that Jenkins had methamphetamine in his residence. On March 7, officers executed a search warrant based on this information and found a burnt marijuana cigarette and a Maadi 7.62 caliber, AK-47-style rifle in the residence. Jenkins acknowledged to officers he was a user of marijuana, cocaine, and methamphetamine.
A federal grand jury returned an indictment against Jenkins on March 20, 2018.
Today Jenkins pleaded guilty to being a drug user in possession of a firearm that was in and affecting interstate commerce. In particular, he admitted before U.S. District Judge Scott L. Palk that he possessed both the Maadi rifle and a Taurus revolver while being an unlawful user of drugs classified as controlled substances under federal law.
At sentencing, Jenkins faces up to ten years in prison, a maximum fine of $250,000, and three years of supervised release.
Jenkins remains in custody and will be sentenced in approximately 90 days.
This case is the result of an investigation by the Oklahoma City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives. Prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jacquelyn M. Hutzell and Nicholas J. Patterson, the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Department of Justice program to reduce violent crime. In October 2017, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the reinvigoration of Project Safe Neighborhoods and directed U.S. Attorney’s Offices to develop crime-reduction strategies that incorporate lessons federal law enforcement has learned since the program’s launch in 2001.
Reference is made to court filings for further information.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
