Posted on 07/13/2020 4:17:21 PM PDT by ransomnote
PORTLAND, Ore.—In separate criminal cases, three men, Mitch Bryan Schoonover, 37, of Portland; Isaiah Holt, 32, also of Portland; and Jay Rodney Ferdig, 44, of Salem, Oregon; were sentenced this week to federal prison for illegally possessing firearms as convicted felons, announced U.S. Attorney Billy J. Williams.
“The goal of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program is to reduce violent crime and victimization across Oregon,” said U.S. Attorney Williams. “A key pillar of our strategy is to reduce illegal gun ownership. With the assistance of our federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement partners, we have made significant progress toward this goal.”
U.S. v. Schoonover
On July 6, 2020, Schoonover was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. According to court documents, on January 1, 2020, Gresham Police officers stopped Schoonover for a traffic violation and on suspicion that the vehicle he was driving was stolen. Officers searched the vehicle after confirming it was stolen and found a .45 caliber semiautomatic pistol, a loaded magazine, and a clear glass pipe containing methamphetamine residue.
In 2005, after learning that another man had spent the night with his girlfriend, Schoonover shot and killed the man at short range with a rifle. He was convicted in Multnomah County Circuit Court of first degree manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years in state prison.
This case was investigated by the Gresham Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lewis S. Burkhart.
U.S. v. Ferdig
Ferdig was sentenced today to 30 months in prison and three years’ supervised release. According to court documents, on August 2, 2019, Ferdig and his fiancée were staying at a Salem motel with their 11-month- and three-year-old children. They left both children in the care of an extremely intoxicated cousin and went to a local park to inject methamphetamine. The children wandered away and a motel guest brought both children inside for their protection and to prevent the three-year-old from running into the street. During a subsequent welfare check, police discovered the children were barefoot and had not had their diapers changed for hours. Ferdig and his fiancée were arrested upon their return to the motel.
Police discovered drug packaging on Ferdig’s person and a .22 caliber pistol with a round in the chamber, two boxes of ammunition, plastic bags with shards of methamphetamine, two digital scales, hypodermic needles, and a stun gun in his vehicle.
Ferdig’s criminal history spans more than two decades. He is prohibited from possessing a firearm after numerous felony convictions for assault, sex offenses, drug offenses, robbery, burglary, and other crimes.
This case was investigated by the Salem Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron G. Chatfield.
U.S. v. Holt
Holt was sentenced today to 37 months in prison and three years’ supervised release for money laundering, drug trafficking, and illegally possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. According to court documents, beginning in July 2016 and continuing until his arrest in April 2018, Holt used his association with a licensed marijuana producer in Portland to divert state-legal marijuana into the black market. Holt sold marijuana in-person to out-of-state customers traveling to Oregon and by mail to remote customers using the U.S. Postal Service.
The investigation started when Holt directed his girlfriend to purchase a handgun for him. In April 2018, ATF agents obtained and executed a search warrant on Holt’s Northeast Portland residence. They found 11.5 grams of cocaine and nearly $2,000 in cash on Holt’s person and three firearms, drug packaging materials, shipping labels, 14 pounds of marijuana, and $46,100 in cash in the residence.
After his arrest and federal indictment, Holt continued to distribute cocaine. From April to August 2019, law enforcement conducted three controlled purchases of cocaine from Holt. In total, law enforcement purchased or recovered from Holt approximately 158 grams of cocaine during these purchases.
Holt is prohibited from possessing a firearm after several felony convictions in Multnomah County Circuit Court in 2007 for selling marijuana and shooting an individual during an altercation.
This case was investigated by ATF, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Portland Police Bureau. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Julia E. Jarrett and Leah K. Bolstad.
These cases were brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
I’d like to see reduced sentences for people like this. They’d just have to agree to permanent sterilization.
In a Constitutional Republic, there should be no such a crime as “Illegal Firearm Possession!”
The crime should be the crime that was committed using a firearm!
All laws against possessing a firearm are unconstitutional!
That’s true.
So all 20 million illegals in our country should never be charged with illegally possessing a firearm?
This is why when you are a convicted felon, you should lose your civil rights such as the right to vote and the right to own a gun. There is no good reason why a convicted violent felon should be anywhere near ownership or possession of a gun. The state has an obligation to protect me from enemies foreign and domestic. Schoonover is a domestic enemy.
The story is silent as to the actual amount of time Schoonover served in Oregon state prison for the murder. I’ll be it was no more than 50% of his 15 year stretch.
The article is also silent as to whether the state of Oregon has any intention of prosecuting him for being in possession of a stolen vehicle, which the federal charges didn’t cover.
Why TF are they all receiving so little time behind bars? That’s insane. It should be at least five years minimum for an illegal firearm, add further time for drugs and previous records if they exist.
Absolutely right! Every ex-felon who did their time, no matter what his likely extensive career convictions entail, should be allowed to own a firearm following their last release from prison........./s
A Hi Point, a no name .25, and a Taurus PT111.
IMO, firearms charges are a bit of a stretch.
You have things backwards!
There shouldn’t be 20 million illegals ... in our country!
Prosecute the crime, the criminal, leave the rest of us alone!
Completely tasteless.
The guns or my comment?
First, there is no Right to vote, at least in a federal election.
Too, when a person has paid his penalty according to his sentencing .. he, or she should have every ‘right’ returned to them just like everyone else!
You need to read up on and understand how our constitution works!
The constitution doesn’t bestow Rights on it’s people, those are God given.
The constitution is a Restriction on government powers/control!
Neither the Congress, the States, nor Judges have the Constitutional authority to create, make-up or pass laws that “infringe” upon the 2nd amendment!
If he’s too dangerous to own a gun, then he’s too dangerous to be loose on the streets in the first place.
Nothing there that I would carry.
Meth head.
Just looking at that guy..... You just KNOW he ain’t supposed have guns.
He might was well ave FELON stamped on his forehead.
I take exception to that. I have a Hi-Point in .40 S&W, and it works great. As a club.
No. Our laws ought to be for citizens.
Illegal aliens, OTOH, should be given an immediate deportation via parachute and C-130 back to their cesspool of origin.
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