08/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 08/28/2024 12:25
Jacksonville, Florida - United States Attorney Roger B. Handberg announces that a federal jury has found Anthony Tyrone Mackey (41, Jacksonville) guilty of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Mackey faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
According to the indictment and evidence presented at trial, on March 29, 2023, officers with the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office stopped Mackey for a traffic infraction near the 5800 block of University Boulevard in Jacksonville. At the time, Mackey was the sole occupant of the vehicle. During a subsequent search of the vehicle, officers located a 12-gauge shotgun on the back passenger-side floorboard and a .25 caliber pistol in a backpack on the back passenger seat. DNA analysis later showed that Mackey's DNA was found on the shotgun and the shotgun's magazine. Mackey was barred from possessing firearms because he had been previously convicted of seven felonies, including possession of a short-barreled shotgun, possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, aggravated assault, and aggravated fleeing or attempted to elude a law enforcement officer.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys John Cannizzaro and Brenna Falzetta.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.