YOUNGSTOWN — Jermaine C. Bunn, of Maywood Drive, was sentenced to 12.5 years in federal prison this week after being found guilty in a federal jury trial in May of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Court Judge Judge John R. Adams in Akron presided over the case.

The charge was filed in Youngstown Municipal Court initially, along with drunken driving, following an Oct. 25, 2024, arrest by Youngstown police.

Officers were called at about 2:44 a.m. to West Chalmers and Overland avenues on the South Side for a report of a driver passed out behind the wheel of a vehicle. When officers arrived, they found a Jeep in the intersection with the lights on and a man inside apparently sleeping. The vehicle was still in drive.

An officer opened the door and put the car in park and took out the keys, a Youngstown police report states. At that time, the officer saw a black handgun near the door handle and he removed it. Another officer tried to wake the man, who at some point was identified as Bunn, 49. The officer shook him, then woke him with a “sternum rub,” the report states. An officer noticed an alcoholic beverage in the cup holder.

The firearm was not stolen and no other contraband was found. Officers learned that Bunn was not allowed to possess a firearm, but the report did not state the reason why.

The case was later indicted in federal court and his federal indictment explained that the reason Bunn was not allowed to possess a firearm was that he had previously been convicted of crimes punishable by imprisonment for terms exceeding one year.

A conviction that prevented him from possessing a firearm was one for felony assault in a 1996 case in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court and a cocaine possession conviction in a 2020 Mahoning County case.

His federal indictment stated that Bunn possessed a Springfield Armory semi automatic pistol and ammunition Oct. 25, 2024, that had been shipped and transported from outside Ohio.

Bunn was charged with OVI after he refused to submit to a breath test for intoxication. The OVI charge was later dismissed, court records show.