William J. Edwards, U.S. Attorney, Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Christopher P. Sadowski, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Columbus Field Division, announced today that Jesse James Davis, age 50, of Akron was sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for the crime of being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. At the time of his arrest in December 2007, Davis was on parole for Attempted Aggravated Murder, Aggravated Robbery, Receiving Stolen Property, Theft and Aggravated Burglary and Felonious Assault and, therefore, was sentenced as an “armed career criminal”. Davis is prohibited from possessing a firearm because of his previous felony convictions. There is no parole in the federal judicial system.

Davis was convicted in the present case in March 2008 after a three day jury trial in U.S. District Court in Cleveland. During the trial, testimony established that Davis had a pistol hidden on his person when he took his child to the Akron Children’s Hospital on December 11, 2007. The mother and grandmother of Davis’ child and two doctors witnessed the loaded pistol drop from Davis’ pant leg onto the examining room floor while they were all present in an examination room. Davis retrieved the pistol, left the examination room, gave the pistol to the mother of his child in the lobby of the medical offices and sent her back with the loaded pistol into the examination room where his child was located. Hospital security detained Davis, retrieved the pistol and Akron Police arrested him. Davis denied he possessed or dropped the pistol. Recordings of telephone calls made by Davis, while incarcerated at the Summit County jail, were played in court. During the calls, Davis made incriminating statements about possessing the pistol.

The investigation was a joint effort between ATF and the Akron Police Department as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). ATF is the lead federal law enforcement agency in the PSN initiative, investigating violent firearms offenders, firearms traffickers, and gangs who use firearms. PSN began in May 2001 and is a comprehensive, strategic approach to reducing gun violence and promoting safe communities. PSN combats gun violence by bringing together local, state and federal law enforcement officials, prosecutors and community leaders to implement a multi-faceted strategy to deter and punish gun violence.