Man Sentenced to More Than 2 Years for Possessing Trigger Activator, Firearm as Convicted Felon
NORFOLK, Va. – Joquan Dominick Owens, 26, was sentenced on Friday in Norfolk Circuit Court to two years and three months in prison for possessing a firearm with illegal modifications as a convicted felon.
On May 4, 2022, near the intersection of Monticello Avenue and 28th Street, Mr. Owens was spotted by a Norfolk Police officer standing by the trunk of a car and handling a pistol. The officer knew Mr. Owens from previous interactions and knew him to be a convicted felon. When the officer approached Mr. Owens, Mr. Owens fled on foot. The officer searched the car and found the pistol in the trunk. It was equipped with an extended magazine and modified with a trigger activator — also known as a switch or an auto sear — which allows semi-automatic guns to fire multiple rounds with one pull of the trigger. The officer also found that the pistol had been reported stolen after running its serial number.
On Friday, Mr. Owens pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a convicted non-violent felon and to possessing a trigger activator, and Judge Tasha D. Scott accepted his plea with an agreed active sentence of two years and three months in prison. Judge Scott suspended an additional one year and nine months on the condition that Mr. Owens complete two years of supervised probation and three years of uniform good behavior following his release.
“Trigger activators are the latest escalation in the arms race we see on American streets, turning a semiautomatic pistol into a machine gun,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “We take the possession of trigger activators very seriously and seek sanctions appropriate to these crimes.”
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney A. Robinson Winn prosecuted Mr. Owens’ case on behalf of the Commonwealth, and Norfolk Police Officer Darren M. Labat led the investigation.
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