Armed Beaumont Ice Cream Man Sentenced for Federal Firearms Violation

BEAUMONT, Texas - A Beaumont man has been sentenced to prison for a federal firearms violation in the Eastern District of Texas, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas Ganjei today.

Jason Bernard Sibley, 21, pleaded guilty on May 28, 2021, to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison today by U.S. District Judge Marcia A. Crone.

According to court documents, on Feb. 3, 2021, Sibley began a video livestream on a social media platform in which he recorded himself in an ice cream truck in a local Beaumont neighborhood serving ice cream to children. He was also observed possessing a firearm in that video. Officers with the Beaumont Police Department who had previous contact with Sibley saw the video and knew Sibley to be a convicted felon and prohibited from owning or possessing firearms or ammunition. Officers eventually arrested Sibley in the ice cream truck and recovered the firearm. Sibley was indicted by a federal grand jury on April 7, 2021 and charged with federal firearms violations.

'The conduct in this case is especially egregious because the firearm was possessed in the presence of children,' said Acting U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei. 'The United States Attorney's Office commends the ATF and Beaumont Police Department for their diligent investigation, which removed an appreciable danger to the Beaumont community.'

This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

This case was investigated by the Beaumont Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Russell James.