Man Sentenced for Fireams Violation

TYLER – A 26-year-old Athens man has been sentenced to prison for federal firearms violations. Paul Ray Jackson pleaded guilty on Feb. 1, 2010, to being a felon in possession of a firearm and was sentenced Thursday in Tyler to 100 months in federal prison.

According to information presented in court, on Nov. 28, 2008, an Athens police officer attempted to stop a vehicle being driven by Jackson for speeding. Jackson refused to stop and led the officer, and ultimately several additional patrol units, on a high speed chase before being stopped by a DPS spike strip in Kaufman. Jackson then fled the scene on foot. A search of the vehicle revealed a fully loaded .22 caliber pistol.

Not long after Jackson fled the scene, he was arrested by Kaufman County Sheriff’s deputies on marijuana charges. A review of police video footage of the car chase enabled officers to positively identify Jackson as the perpetrator in both incidents. On Dec. 2, 2008, Jackson voluntarily surrendered to authorities at the Athens Police Department and confessed to being the driver of the car in the Nov. 28, 2008 incident. Further investigation revealed Jackson was a convicted felon having been previously found guilty of possession of marijuana in 2007 in Parker County, Texas. As a convicted felon, Jackson is prohibited by federal law from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition.

Authorities say, “This conviction is yet another important outcome from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national priority of the United States Department of Justice. PSN is designed as a partnership between federal and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun-related crime through the vigorous enforcement of the criminal provisions of the federal firearms laws.”