Convicted Felon on State Probation Sentenced to Prison for Illegal Possession of Firearm

ASHEVILLE, N.C. - Zyon Zashawn Jacobs, 21, of Asheville, was sentenced yesterday to 21 months in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon for illegally possessing firearms, one of which was used in four separate shootings in Asheville, announced Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina. Jacobs was also ordered to serve three years under supervised release after he is released from prison.

According to filed documents and court proceedings, Jacobs was on probation for 2024 state convictions of possession with intent to manufacture, sell, and deliver marijuana, common law robbery, and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury. In November 2025, law enforcement officers found and seized two Glock 9mm pistols following a search conducted at an apartment in Asheville. One of the firearms was fitted with a machinegun conversion device, commonly known as a "Glock switch." Agents interviewed Jacobs later at the police department. Initially, Jacobs denied possession of the firearms, but agents found videos and photos of Jacobs possessing the two 9mm pistols upon execution of a consent search of Jacobs's cell phone. This video and photographic evidence established that Jacobs possessed one of the firearms as early as September 3, 2025. Agents then reinterviewed Jacobs and confronted him with the evidence from his cell phone. Jacobs admitted to possessing the firearms but stated that the Glock switch was not attached to the firearm at the time he possessed it.

Agents later determined one of the 9mm pistols was involved in four Asheville shootings-July 23, 2025, August 7, 2025, September 2, 2025, and September 21, 2025.

"One of the two guns Jacobs possessed was used in four separate shootings in Asheville," said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. "That's too many lives one person is putting at risk, and we will use all the federal tools available to remove people like that from the streets."

In June 2026, Jacobs pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a felon.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives along with the Asheville Police Department, the Buncombe County Sheriff's Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Hess of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Asheville prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.