CAMP VERDE, Ariz. – On Friday, Christopher Daniel Jones, 26, of Camp Verde, Arizona, was sentenced by United States District Judge Michael T. Liburdi to 105 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Jones previously pleaded guilty to Carjacking on February 26, 2020.
On July 27, 2019, Jones, an enrolled member of the Gila River Indian Community and a convicted sex offender, snuck into the victim’s parked van at a gas station located on the Yavapai-Apache Nation. When the victim returned to the van, Jones was hiding in the back. Wielding a knife, Jones moved toward the front of the van and forced the victim to drive, holding the knife to the victim’s body. The victim jumped out of the van, and Jones drove it away, resulting in a law enforcement pursuit that ended with Jones’s apprehension about 75 miles away. Investigation revealed that Jones had an active warrant, was on supervised release in two separate Failure to Register as a Sex Offender cases, and had recently escaped from Behavioral Systems Southwest.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Yavapai-Apache Nation Police Department, the Phoenix Police Department, and the United States Marshals Service. The prosecution was handled by Christina Covault and Kiyoko Patterson, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Phoenix.