Ponemah Man Sentenced For Possessing Sawed-Off Shotgun

A Ponemah man has been sentenced to 100 months in prison for possessing a sawed-off shotgun.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office reports that Randall Dean Jones, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of possession of an unregistered firearm on December 20, 2018, and was sentenced on Thursday in U.S. District Court in St. Paul.

According to court documents, on August 1, 2018, law enforcement officers were dispatched to an apartment complex in Thief River Falls following a report of a fight. When officers arrived, they found Jones yelling and banging on an apartment door. After detaining Jones, the officers found an Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works, 20-gauge shotgun with a shortened barrel in the apartment hallway.

Jones admitted to possessing the unregistered, modified shotgun. Jones has two prior felony convictions, including aggravated assault in Cass County and North Dakota and assault with a dangerous weapon. These convictions prohibit him from possessing firearms.

The case is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Thief River Falls Police Department, the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office, and the Red Lake Police Department.