Washington D.C.'s Jamal Fleming, aged 32, has been sentenced to a 46-month term in federal prison for possession of a machine gun during a high-speed police chase in a stolen SUV. This marks his third conviction for illegal firearm possession, and in this latest escapade, Fleming crashed the vehicle and was arrested attempting to flee on foot while trapped in a fence, as reported by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The sentencing on the firearm charge came down from U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb, who also ordered Fleming to serve 36 months of supervised release after his incarceration, during the October 11 incident, which began with Prince George’s County police identifying a black Jeep Grand Cherokee linked to a spree of armed robberies, attempted to stop Fleming, he sped off, eventually crashing and then running until he became stuck on a fence, following this the Metropolitan Police Department’s Falcon helicopter had monitored the chase into the capital.
Upon the arrest of Fleming, officers found the modified Glock 29, now a fully automatic weapon complete with a laser sight, and subsequent DNA tests affirmed Fleming's connection to the gun, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. The Jeep initially eluded police scrutiny until its catastrophic end against a utility pole; it was confirmed stolen from a shop in Beltsville the previous week.
Fleming's criminal history related to firearms dates back to 2016, a restriction further underscored by a 2022 incident where he was caught by police with an array of narcotics and a handgun; he was sentenced to five years in prison later that year, with a majority of the term suspended, leaving him on probation during the time of this most recent arrest, which was brought to a close with a thwarted attempt to escape officers, now leading to his current sentence facilitated by the Metropolitan Police Department and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Cameron Tepfer.
