Rodeo man who survived multiple attempts on his life is sentenced in federal ammo case

OAKLAND — A Rodeo man has been sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition, court records show.

Brian Isadore Jones, 38, was sentenced last month by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar. He has spent the year since his arrest in custody and that time will be subtracted from his sentence.

Jones was formally charged with possessing ammunition, but he was arrested in Rodeo on Oct. 12, 2021 with three pistols, approximately 75 rounds of ammunition, a speed loader, 16 magazines, and numerous gun parts, including a switch designed to render guns fully automatic, according to authorities. The arrest was made amid a drug investigation by the Contra Costa Sheriff’s office.

Prosecutors wanted a 46-month prison sentence. Jones’ attorney, Adam Pennella, argued for 30 months, writing in a sentencing memo that Jones was illiterate and suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder from a wildly abusive and unstable upbringing.

“He has lived a life replete with abandonment, violence, abuse, addiction, and a wholesale lack of guidance and support,” Pennella wrote. “It is tragic, yet sadly unsurprising, that his first arrest occurred at age 8, and that he has spent much of his life in one custodial facility or another.”

In fact, Jones has survived numerous attempts on his life, including instances where loved ones were killed by bullets intended for him.

In 2004, Jones’ 20-year-old girlfriend was shot and killed on Richmond Parkway, allegedly by a person targeting Jones. Two years later, Jones was with a 17-year-old girlfriend who was shot and killed, again by someone who intended to shoot Jones, authorities said at the time.

In 2006, Jones — who goes by the nickname “Reaper,” according to police — was sentenced to 15 years for attempted murder, stemming from a gang-related shooting. He was paroled in December 2020 and equipped with an ankle monitor, and within weeks was arrested for driving in a vehicle containing four firearms with two other suspected North Richmond gang members. But charges were never filed, court records show.

Four months later, a warrant was issued after he allegedly cut the monitor off, authorities say.

In September 2021, Jones returned home from a haircut covered in blood, after surviving yet another shooting, according to police. Authorities say in that incident a 17-year-old girl was shot and wounded by assailants attempting to kill people inside a barber shop on the 4800 block of Valley View Road.

Around that same time, Jones’ friend was shot near Jones’ mother’s house, but Jones is convinced he was the intended target of the shooting, Pennella wrote in court papers.

As if all that wasn’t enough, in the Fall of 2021 the FBI and Contra Costa District Attorney performed a wiretap investigation on gangs based in Central Richmond. During one recorded phone call, Jones’ name as a potential target for a shooting, according to investigators.