Jackson, Miss. – A Meridian man pled guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Special Agent in Charge Kurt Thielhorn of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

According to court documents, Reginald D’Mond Kelly, 32, was arrested on August 2, 2019, by officers of the Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office on charges related to the sale of narcotics.  During the course of the arrest, Kelly’s vehicle was searched and the officers found methamphetamine and a 9mm caliber handgun in the vehicle’s trunk.  Kelly later admitted to the officers that he possessed the firearm for protection and that he engaged in the sale of methamphetamine.

Kelly is scheduled to be sentenced on December 15, 2021, and faces a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and a maximum of life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The Lauderdale County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are investigating the case.  Assistant United States Attorney Charles W. Kirkham is prosecuting the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.