01-28-2008
Man Sentenced to 15 Years as an Armed Career Criminal After Admitting to the Arson of a Silverton Restraurant and Possession of a Firearm in Layfayette
Portland, Ore. – Ronald Wayne Davidson, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Anna J. Brown to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 60 months of supervised release as a result of his November 19, 2007 plea of guilty to arson and being an armed career criminal in possession of a firearm. Davidson qualified as an armed career criminal because of his prior convictions for burglary, robbery and arson.
In Davidson’s plea, he admitted he was responsible for an arson fire on December 11, 2006, in which he set fire to a trash can at the Towne House Restaurant in Silverton as a diversion to steal money from the cash register. The arson was investigated by the Silverton Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Investigators found Davidson stole $475.00 from the cash register and caused fire damage in the amount of $775.00.
Davidson also admitted possessing a firearm in Layfayette on December 23, 2006 and that he brandished the firearm at an individual outside of a market that same date. That incident was investigated by the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, McMinnville Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.
This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). According to U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut, “PSN’s goal is to reduce gun violence and create safer communities by prosecuting firearms offenses in federal court where serious sentences are available for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.”
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Yamhill County Sheriff ’s Office, the McMinnville Police Department, and the Silverton Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Fred Weinhouse.
