Felon Vice Lords gang member sentenced after loaded gun found during Coast traffic stop
A self-professed member of the Vice Lords street gang from Gulfport is headed to prison for just over three years on a federal charge of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
U.S District Judge Taylor B. McNeel sentenced Billie Ray Johnson Jr. on Wednesday, ordering him to serve three years and three months in federal prison for possessing a 9 mm pistol loaded with a 9-round magazine in a car he was a passenger in when it was stopped in Gulfport.
In addition, the judge ordered Johnson to serve three years under post-release supervision and fined him $4,000. He had pleaded guilty to the offense in May in a plea agreement with the government.
Johnson was the passenger in a Buick Regal when the car was pulled over on Polk Street at Arkansas Avenue on Feb. 25, according to Gulfport police Detective Sgt. Adam Gibbons.
Gibbons is a drug enforcement agent assigned to the Gulf Coast High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (HIDTA).
The agents pulled the car over for a window tint violation, but a search of the vehicle followed after the arresting officer smelled marijuana in the car, Gibbons said.
During the search, Gibbons said, agents found the loaded pistol under the passenger seat of the car where Johnson was sitting. In addition, they found marijuana in Johnson’s front pants pocket.
Johnson admitted he had smoked marijuana shortly before the traffic and said he owned the gun.
Johnson said he bought the pistol for $150 at a housing complex shortly after he got out of prison six months earlier on an armed robbery conviction in Harrison County. Johnson, the agent said, had a history of criminal activity in Harrison County, including charges in 10 different armed robberies.
When asked why he needed the weapon, Johnson said it was because “’ This Gulfport,’” suggesting that he needed a gun for protection in the area.
Johnson told investigators he was a habitual marijuana user, smoking two to three times a day since his release from prison on probation six months earlier.
He said he had not been involved as much with the Vice Lords street gang activity since his release from prison because he was still on probation.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan David Buckner prosecuted the case against Johnson in federal court in Gulfport on Wednesday. Attorney John Weber with the federal public defender’s office represented Johnson.
Johnson is just one of various gang members prosecuted on state and federal crimes in South Mississippi by local, state and federal prosecutors in and other area in law enforcement’s ongoing efforts to try to crack down on gun violence and the illegal drug trade.
In May 2017, Mississippi made history when federal prosecuted prosecuted Josh Vallum, a Latin Kings gang member, in the first-ever federal prosecution for the killing of transgender teen, Mercedes Williamson.
Vallum is just one of various gang members serving time in Mississippi on various violent offenses.
The Simon City Royals Street gang is believed to be most prevalent in South Mississippi
