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Jackson, Miss. –Otha Ray Flowers, 37, of Jackson, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Court Judge Henry T. Wingate to 10 years in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm, announced U.S. Attorney Mike Hurst and Michelle A. Sutphin, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The 10 year sentence will be served consecutive to the 8 year sentence Flowers received on December 3, 2019, based on a separate conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Flowers will serve a total of 18 years in federal prison based on his two most recent convictions.
A jury convicted Flowers at the conclusion of a trial on September 18, 2019, for being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm during his arrest by the FBI on a federal warrant. On February 13, 2019, an FBI Special Agent and Task Force Officer encountered Flowers exiting his sister’s residence. When the agents informed Flowers that they were from the FBI and that he was under arrest, Flowers resisted arrest and tossed a loaded firearm that had been in his coat pocket back into his sister’s apartment. Flowers continued to resist, but he was finally subdued. The firearm was then recovered from the apartment. Flowers had been previously convicted in St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana for attempted armed robbery; in Hinds County, Mississippi for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon; and in Guadalupe County, Texas for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted and tried by Assistant United States Attorneys Dave Fulcher and Chet Kirkham.
This case is part of Project EJECT, an initiative by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Mississippi under the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). EJECT is a holistic, multi-disciplinary approach to fighting and reducing violent crime through prosecution, prevention, re-entry and awareness. EJECT stands for “Empower Justice Expel Crime Together.” PSN is a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 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.