Florida veteran found guilty of unlawful possession of guns, grenades, classified info

FLORIDA – A Tampa man has been found guilty of unlawful possession of guns, grenades, and classified information relating to national defense, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

A federal jury convicted Jeremy Brown, 48, of Tampa, for possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun and an unregistered short-barreled rifle, two counts of possession of unregistered M67 fragmentation grenades, willful retention of national defense information and illegal storage of explosives, the USAO said in its announcement.

According to evidence presented at trial, on Sept. 30, 2021, the FBI executed an arrest and search warrant at Brown’s residence in Tampa. During the search, agents reportedly found an unregistered AR-15-style rifle, modified to have a 10” barrel, in Brown’s bedroom. Agents also said they found a sawed-off shotgun, also unregistered, on a couch inside Brown’s recreational vehicle (RV), which was parked near his home.

Inside a briefcase next to the shotgun, agents said they found a classified Trip Report that Brown had authored shortly before he retired from the U.S. Special Forces. Inside the bedroom of that same RV, agents allegedly found an ammunition vest containing two M-67 fragmentation grenades hidden in the pockets. U.S. Army records reportedly confirmed that the grenades had originally been in the possession of the U.S. Army.

Trial evidence also reportedly established that Brown had served as a weapons sergeant in the Special Forces, which would have given him access to M-67 fragmentation grenades. Finally, the evidence reportedly established that the classified Trip Report contained highly sensitive information about U.S. Department of Defense intelligence–gathering tactics, techniques, and procedures, including information about a human source that, if released, could have caused the source to be arrested, tortured or killed, the USAO said.

Each count carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison. Brown was also found guilty of illegal storage of explosives and faces up to one year in prison for that offense. His sentencing hearing is scheduled March 13, 2023.

The FBI is investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel J. Marcet for the Middle District of Florida and Trial Attorney Menno Goedman of the National Security Division’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section are prosecuting the case.