Lorain man sentenced to 6 1/2 years in federal prison on drug, weapons charges

A Lorain man who pleaded guilty to multiple federal drug trafficking offenses and illegally possessing ammunition in June was sentenced to six-and-a-half years in federal prison Wednesday. Jarvis Burns Jr., 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. to 78 months in prison, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio Bridget Brennan announced Friday. Burns received credit for time served behind bars since Feb. 11, 2020, according to federal court records. A convicted drug trafficker, he is forbidden by law from possessing guns or ammunition. Burns was arrested on traffic charges by the Lorain Police Department on May 29, 2019, taken to the Lorain City Jail and searched. During that search, officers found a bag of suspected drugs concealed in Burns' rectum and approximately $1,500 in cash in his possession, police said at the time. "When confronted, Burns became violent and ripped open multiple bags of crack cocaine, heroin and fentanyl, and began dispersing the drugs around the room and onto police officers," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office, after Lorain police said he first trying to swallow some of the drugs. Six patients including Burns and police officers were transported to Mercy Hospital in Lorain to be treated for exposure to crack cocaine and possibly fentanyl. The jail was closed, the Lorain Fire Department's Hazmat team decontaminated the scene and Burns was charged with felony assault, taking drugs into the jail and several misdemeanors for the initial arrest. He was indicted in Lorain County Common Pleas Court, but those charges were dismissed by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office in January, according to court records. In November 2019, Elyria police began investigating Burns for alleged drug trafficking. Between then and January 2020, confidential informants bought drugs from Burns four times, according to federal court records. In February 2020, Elyria police arrested Burns after identifying him as a suspect in a shooting near the D&M Mart on Lake Avenue on Nov. 25, 2019 — about 600 feet northwest of the Elyria Police Department on West Avenue. Early that morning, officers were dispatched to a reported shooting outside the convenience store, where they found six shell casings and, using surveillance video, identified two cars that were involved. "An investigation revealed that Burns and another individual were involved in an argument when the other individual hit Burns with a car," the U.S. Attorney's Office said. "Burns then fired multiple gunshots at the other individual, who was attempting to flee at the time." Elyria police previously said Demarcus Boone, an Elyria man and the driver of a Ford Taurus, tried to hit Burns with the car after Burns stepped out of a gray Jeep Cherokee parked at the store. Burns then shot at Boone, according to surveillance video reviewed by police, and both men fled the scene before police arrived. The Northern Ohio Violent Fugitive Task Force and other authorities arrested Burns in February 2020 and he was indicted on charges including assault, discharge of a firearm, and having weapons under disability, all felonies. Those charges were dismissed by the Lorain County Prosecutor's Office in January, with the right to refile them at a later date, according to court records. Prosecutors occasionally dismiss local charges when similar federal charges are filed. Along with the Lorain and Elyria police departments, the case was jointly investigated by the Lorain County Drug Task Force and the FBI with the assistance of the U.S. Marshals Service. Boone — now 25 — is in federal custody awaiting trial in February 2022 on being a felon in possession of a firearm. Boone, who has pleaded "not guilty," was indicted by a federal grant jury on a charge of possessing a 9 mm Ruger semi-automatic handgun seized from him on May 7, according to federal court records, following an investigation into the alleged sale of heroin and fentanyl out of a house on Morgan Street in Elyria that belonged to some of Boone's relatives. Boone is forbidden from owning or possessing firearms due to a previous felony conviction for illegal conveyance of drugs in Lorain County Common Pleas Court in November 2017, according to federal court records. Boone was arrested near his mother's home with 8.1 grams of fentanyl and 8.9 grams of cocaine on him on May 7, according to federal court records. Nearly 300 grams of other drugs packaged in plastic bags were found stashed in the Morgan Street residence, an FBI wrote in an affidavit filed in federal court. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com. Follow him at @daveobrienCT on Twitter.