Defendant Who Live-Streamed Standoff with Police on Facebook Sentenced for Possessing Fentanyl, Firearm

DAYTON – Daniel E. Jones, 29, of Harrison Township, was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 144 months in prison for possessing fentanyl and a firearm.

Benjamin C. Glassman, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, Angela L. Byers, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Cincinnati Division, Montgomery County Sheriff Phil Plummer and other members of the FBI’s Southern Ohio Safe Streets Task Force and the Regional Agency Narcotics Gun Enforcement (RANGE) Task Force announced the sentence handed down today by U.S. District Judge Thomas M. Rose.

According to court documents, on March 31, 2016, Jones engaged in an hours-long standoff with federal and local authorities at an apartment complex in Montgomery County, refusing to allow police access to his residence, because he had fentanyl in his apartment that he intended to sell in the Dayton area.

As the standoff continued, he attempted to burn the drugs. Officers noticed smoke and flames inside of the apartment. An investigator on scene accessed Jones’s Facebook page and discovered that Jones was posting a live video feed of himself with footage of an active fire inside of the shower in a bathroom of the apartment.

Jones stated “No evidence on me buddy” after recording the active fire in the shower. He also flashed bundles of cash and referred to himself as “El Chapo Jr.” during the video.

Ultimately, Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office Regional SWAT Team officers and federal agents gained access to the apartment, arrested Jones and recovered a firearm as well as the remnants of the burnt fentanyl.

Upon arresting Jones, officers found more than $3,000 in cash on Jones and more than $100,000 cash throughout the apartment.

Jones was charged by a federal criminal complaint in March 2016 and indicted by a federal grand jury in April 2016. He pleaded guilty in April 2017 to one count of possessing with intent to distribute fentanyl and one count of possessing a firearm after being convicted of a felony.

U.S. Attorney Glassman commended the cooperative investigation by the FBI and Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, as well as Assistant United States Attorney Brent G. Tabacchi, who is representing the United States in this case.