ST. PAUL, Minn. – A Moorhead man was sentenced to 57 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm in his residence after a minor was shot and killed with his gun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles J. Kovats.
According to court documents, on March 21, 2021, Phillip Neal Jones, Jr., 34, possessed a Walther .40 caliber pistol in his Moorhead residence. While Jones was away from the residence, a visiting child found the loaded gun under a large snack chip box in the kitchen. The gun went off, hitting and killing a second child.
Jones has multiple prior felony convictions in Hennepin and Anoka Counties and therefore is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition at any time.
Jones was sentenced today by U.S. District Court Judge Paul A. Magnuson.
This case is the result of investigations conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Moorhead Police Department.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Amber M. Brennan prosecuted the case.
###