Miami, Florida – A U.S. District Judge in South Florida has sentenced a prior convicted felon from Fort Pierce to 120 months in prison for possessing a firearm last Memorial Day.
On the night of May 31, 2021, 28-year-old Everette Jerome Jackson, Jr. arrived at a Fort Pierce park and exited a vehicle with a .40 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol. The park was filled with people celebrating the holiday. After some fighting and commotion among parkgoers, Jackson brandished the Smith & Wesson and fired at a vehicle 13 times, hitting a bystander — the owner of the vehicle. After the shooting, Jackson tried to dispose of the firearm by throwing it into the Intracoastal Waterway, but dive-team officers from the St. Lucie County Sheriff’s Office recovered it.
When he possessed the firearm on May 31, 2021, Jackson had a prior felony drug conviction and a prior felony conviction for illegal firearm possession.
Jackson also faces state charges for shooting the victim. The defendant is presumed innocent of the state charges unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Miami, and Ken J. Mascara, Sheriff, Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Aileen M. Cannon.
FBI Miami and Saint Lucie County Sheriff’s Office investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Diana M. Acosta prosecuted it.
This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In 2017, PSN was reinvigorated as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov, under case number 21-cr-14033.
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