A Saint Paul man has been handed an 82-month sentence after unleashing a barrage of automatic gunfire into a neighborhood, as confirmed by Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson. Jermaine Marquize Williams, 35, received the sentence after pleading guilty to illegal possession of ammunition as a convicted felon; his term includes a consecutive 6-month stint for violating federal supervised release terms. The U.S. Attorney's Office announced the context of Williams's latest crime: it was night, in a Saint Paul neighborhood close to midnight outside a bar, when Williams fired the weapon.
The dangerous episode occurred in August 2024, the local police later uncovered multiple spent casings from the automatic weapon used in the incident, Acting U.S. Attorney Joseph H. Thompson reflected on the severity of the event saying "This conduct was extraordinarily dangerous, utterly brazen, and well-deserving of federal time," Williams has faced the law before, with a 2019 federal conviction for firearm possession as a felon and had been out on federal supervised release for merely half a year before this latest offense. Surveillance video reportedly caught the moment Williams, brandishing the machine gun, engaged in the shooting from his vehicle, then hastily drove away from the crime scene.
Williams's sentencing took place on May 28, when U.S. District Judge Paul A. Magnuson laid down the terms of the prison time. Federal investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms (ATF) along with the Saint Paul Police Department worked together to bring the details of the case to light, leading to the aforementioned charges and sentencing; Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin Bejar prosecuted the case, with the sentencing received considerable attention due to the brazen nature of the crime and the risk it posed to the Saint Paul community.
