Pensacola Man Sentenced to Federal Prison for Possession of Firearm by a Convicted Felon (DOJ)

PENSACOLA, FLORIDA - Jerney Jabara Purifoy, 33, of Pensacola, Florida, was sentenced to two and a half years in federal prison for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "This serial felon has spent years terrorizing our communities with his criminal conduct, but President Donald J. Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi launched Operation Take Back America to deploy the full might of the Department of Justice to protect our citizens from violent criminals like him. This defendant will spend years in federal prison, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute others like him until our streets are safe."

Court documents reflect that law enforcement executed a search warrant at the defendant's Pensacola residence due to animal cruelty allegations. Law enforcement located a loaded handgun in the defendant's bedroom, as well as a loaded .22-caliber AR15-style rifle in the residence. The defendant is a multi-time convicted felon. The animal cruelty case is pending in state court.

Upon his release from prison, the defendant will be supervised release for three years.

The case involved a joint investigation by the Escambia County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica S. Etherton.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime, human and drug trafficking.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.