Javon Ellis set for sentencing March 4 in U.S. District Court

By Rosemary K. Otzman
Independent Editor
Javon Ellis is expected to be sentenced to from 20 years to life in federal prison when he goes before U.S. District Court Judge Denise Page Hood at 2 p.m., March 4, postponed from the Dec. 19 previous sentencing date.
Van Buren Township Police Lt. Charles Bazzy said that Ellis refused a plea agreement and demanded a trial in federal court. A jury trial began on Aug. 19, before Judge Hood in Detroit.
On Aug. 22, the case went to the jury. The jury deliberated for about 1½ hours before returning with a guilty verdict on all counts: felon in possession of a firearm, armed career criminal, and possession with intent to distribute marijuana.
Ellis was the person who was accused of buying a Colt .45 with laser sight after it was stolen in Van Buren Township Jan. 27, 2012.
Ellis was in the company of two other felons when he was arrested July 2, 2012 by Eastern Michigan University Police on charges of possession of marijuana and possession of the stolen handgun.
The felons with Ellis were Thomas Johnson and Sheldon Brummette, who accepted felony plea agreements for possession of a firearm and faced 10-year minimum sentences in federal prison.
The handgun Ellis had was stolen during the series of break-ins in the Denton neighborhood of Van Buren Township during the winter of 2011-12.