By: Tyler Eckel
TRENTON (MERCER)– A Trenton man was charged today with assaulting a federal agent with a deadly weapon, armed robbery, and discharging a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig announced.
Jabree Johnson, 28, of Trenton, is charged by complaint with one count of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon, one count of robbery with a dangerous weapon of an individual with custody of federal property, and one count of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, in which the firearm was discharged. Johnson is currently in custody on related charges filed by the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office in connection with the assault. He will make his initial appearance by videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Zahid N. Quraishi on a date to be determined.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
On March 22, 2021, federal law enforcement officers were investigating firearms trafficking and other illegal activities in Trenton and Hamilton, New Jersey. An undercover federal law enforcement agent arranged to purchase multiple firearms from an individual later identified as Johnson.
After arriving at an agreed-upon location for the firearms transaction, Johnson entered the undercover federal agent’s vehicle and handed the agent a black, semi-automatic firearm. The undercover federal agent inspected the firearm and then returned it to Johnson, and requested to see the other firearms that Johnson had agreed to sell. Instead, Johnson pointed the loaded firearm directly at the undercover federal agent and demanded money from the agent. In response, the undercover federal agent provided Johnson with an amount of U.S. currency. Johnson then ordered the undercover federal agent out of the vehicle at gunpoint. The agent exited the vehicle as ordered, drew a service-issued firearm, and fired at Johnson, striking Johnson in the shoulder. Johnson fired his handgun multiple times at the undercover federal agent before fleeing the area. Johnson was later identified at a local hospital as the individual who had assaulted and robbed the undercover federal agent at gunpoint.
The charge of assault on a federal officer with a deadly weapon carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of robbery of federal property with a dangerous weapon carries a maximum potential penalty of 25 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The charge of using and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence carries a statutory mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison, which must run consecutive to any other sentence imposed, and a maximum of life in prison.
Acting U.S. Attorney Honig credited special agents of the FBI, Newark Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George M. Crouch Jr.; special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Newark Field Division, Trenton Field Office, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Charlie J. Patterson; officers of the Trenton Police Department, under the direction of Police Director Sheilah Coley; officers of the Hamilton Township Police Department, under the direction of Police Chief James Stevens; troopers of the New Jersey State Police, under the direction of Col. Patrick J. Callahan, and detectives and prosecutors of the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office, under the direction of Prosecutor Angelo Onofri, with the investigation leading to today’s charges.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric A. Boden and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Katie Magee Lee of the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s Criminal Division in Trenton.
The charges and allegations in the complaint are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Photos by Tyler Eckel
Photos by Brian McCarthy, OnScene News