A 33-year-old Orlando man who ditched his car and ran from police during a 2024 traffic stop, posted state bail after his arrest, and was located and arrested shortly after being charged federally has been sentenced to more than 10 years in federal prison for illegally possessing a firearm. Aljunda Jashae Tompkins was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Anne-Leigh Gaylord Moe to 125 months behind bars after pleading guilty in June 2026 to firearm possession as a convicted felon.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the case traces back to September 2024, when Orlando Police Department officers pulled over Tompkins's vehicle. He jumped out and tried to run, ignoring commands from officers before he was taken into custody. Officers recovered a loaded firearm from inside his car, setting the legal process in motion that would eventually land him in federal court.
That process took a turn after Tompkins posted state bail following his arrest. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives joined the investigation, and Tompkins was charged federally and located and arrested shortly afterward — a shift from a local traffic-stop case to a federal prosecution.
A Record That Shaped the Sentence
Court records cited by the Justice Department describe Tompkins as a five-time convicted felon, with prior convictions for trafficking controlled substances and firearms offenses, along with multiple violations of domestic violence protection injunctions. Tompkins was sentenced to 125 months in federal prison.
As first reported by Orlando-News.com, the traffic-stop evasion that started the case led to a federal gun prosecution involving local and federal law enforcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Varadan prosecuted the case under Project Safe Neighborhoods, the nationwide Department of Justice strategy that pairs federal, state, and local law enforcement to target violent gun crime.
Federal Penalties Got Tougher in 2022
Tompkins's exposure to a long sentence stems partly from a change in federal law. Under 18 U.S.C. § 922(g) and § 924(a)(8), as amended by the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act of June 2022, the maximum statutory penalty for a convicted felon possessing a firearm rose from 10 years to 15 years in federal prison, according to the Federal Register. That expanded ceiling has given federal judges in cases like this one more room to hand down sentences that stretch past a decade for repeat offenders.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida, which handled the prosecution, serves 35 of the state's 67 counties and a population topping 11.5 million people — making it the second most populous federal judicial district in the country, per the Justice Department.
Part of a Larger Enforcement Push
Tompkins's case was prosecuted under Project Safe Neighborhoods, the nationwide Department of Justice strategy that pairs federal, state, and local law enforcement to target violent gun crime.
Orlando has seen a string of similar outcomes under the same federal strategy. Felon gets 6+ years federal time was the outcome for 42-year-old Reginald Dugger Jr., another five-time convicted felon, who was sentenced in September 2024 to six years and six months after federal agents searched his home and seized loaded firearms and drugs.
