PENSACOLA — A 41-year-old multi-time convicted felon who was caught with loaded handguns during two separate traffic stops — the second while he was out on bond from the first — was sentenced to eight years in federal prison on two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Jason Wayne Coleman of Pensacola was legally barred from possessing firearms due to prior felony convictions. He was also out on bond from firearm-related charges in Indiana dating to January 2022 when Escambia County Sheriff’s Office deputies first encountered him.
“This serial felon has been a criminal menace to our communities for far too long, but thanks to the excellent work of the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office with support from our federal law enforcement partners, he will now spend years behind bars where he belongs,” U.S. Attorney John P. Heekin said. “This successful prosecution by my office is yet another win under Operation Take Back America, through which President Donald J. Trump and acting Attorney General Todd Blanche have directed the Department of Justice to deploy its full might toward removing violent career criminals, like this defendant, from our streets to deliver the safe, crime-free communities our citizens deserve.”
Court documents show that on Oct. 2, 2024, an Escambia County deputy on routine patrol conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle Coleman was driving. Coleman attempted to flee on foot but was apprehended. Deputies found a loaded .32 caliber handgun under the driver’s seat along with marijuana. Coleman also had a suspended driver’s license. He was arrested but bonded out of jail.
Barely seven months later, on May 13, 2025, Escambia County deputies stopped Coleman again — this time on a motorized minibike. While arresting him for driving on a suspended license and resisting law enforcement, deputies found a loaded .38-caliber revolver in his pocket.
The case was investigated jointly by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Jessica S. Etherton prosecuted the case in the Northern District of Florida.
The sentencing falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative aimed at eliminating cartels and transnational criminal organizations and removing violent career criminals from communities. Coleman will serve his eight-year sentence in federal prison, where there is no parole.