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<\/p>\nJohn Grissom was convicted of possessing an unregistered, short-barreled rifle without a serial number. The DOJ says he has at least three convictions for robberies.<\/p>\n
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. \u2014 A Jacksonville man who the Department of Justice has labeled a “serial robber,” could be sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty on firearms charges in federal court.<\/p>\n
The DOJ announced Friday that a federal jury found 55-year-old John Grissom guilty of possessing ammunition by a convicted felon and possessing an unregistered, short-barreled rifle without a serial number.<\/p>\n
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Grissom faces a minimum of 15 years, and up to life, in federal prison.<\/p>\n
According to the DOJ, on Sept. 30, 2024, three young men were playing basketball in Jacksonville when one of them realized he had lost his keys. While retracing his steps, he encountered Grissom and asked whether he had seen them.<\/p>\n
Later, while driving around the block, the man spotted Grissom hiding outside his home with a short-barreled rifle equipped with a red laser, the DOJ said. As the three men drove past Grissom’s residence, Grissom reportedly pointed the rifle at them.<\/p>\n
The three men then called the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office.<\/p>\n
When officers responded to Grissom’s home in an attempt to make contact with him, the DOJ said officers observed Grissom’s window lit up from the inside and his door quickly open and close.<\/p>\n
“The officers proceeded to bang on his door and window and announced their presence outside,” the DOJ said in a release. “For more than two hours, Grissom pretended not to be home.”<\/p>\n
Eventually, Grissom exited his home and was arrested. When interviewed, the DOJ said Grissom stated that he was on heavy medication and did “it” because he was scared due to recent robberies in his neighborhood.<\/p>\n
A search of Grissom’s home was conducted, according to the DOJ. Officers reportedly found rifle ammunition in Grissom’s toilet, an upper receiver for an AR15-style rifle underneath the covers of his bed, and the lower receiver and stock for the rifle inside a hole in his box spring. A bolt carrier and ammunition magazine were found in a trash can.<\/p>\n
“The barrel of the rifle measured approximately 8.5 inches, subjecting it to regulation under the National Firearms Act (NFA),” the DOJ said. “A search of the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record revealed that the firearm was not registered to Grissom. The firearm had been privately made and did not bear a serial number as required under the NFA. As an eleven-time convicted felon, Grissom is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition under federal law.”<\/p>\n
The DOJ said the jury that convicted Grissom further found that Grissom had three or more convictions for robberies that were committed on different occasions, thus subjecting him to an enhanced penalty as an “Armed Career Criminal.”<\/p>\n
Grissom’s sentencing is scheduled for Sept. 30.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"John Grissom was convicted of possessing an unregistered, short-barreled rifle without a serial number. The DOJ says he…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":236999,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[116,118,117],"class_list":["post-297575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville","tag-jacksonville-headlines","tag-jacksonville-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=297575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/297575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/236999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=297575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=297575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=297575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}