Baltimore man who went live on Instagram while wanted pleads guilty to gun charges

A Baltimore man who was arrested on gun charges after police spotted him on Instagram Live while he had an active arrest warrant pleaded guilty Tuesday.

Ronald Jones, 30, pleaded guilty to possessing a firearm as a prohibited person and violating the terms of his supervised release. A prior felony conviction prohibits him from possessing firearms or ammunition.

Jones was arrested on July 9, 2024, after police spotted him in an Instagram Live video, according to court documents. At the time, he had an active arrest warrant.

Police recognized the background of the video as a residence in West Baltimore and responded to the location. Officers found Jones on the porch and arrested him on the outstanding warrant.

During the arrest, officers noticed a brown satchel with a brown-and-black strap that Jones had been wearing during the livestream. They recovered the bag and felt a heavy object inside. It contained a loaded handgun with an extended magazine holding 20 rounds of ammunition.

Officers also found a second loaded firearm, which had been reported stolen, in Jones' front waistband. That gun contained 10 rounds of ammunition.

At the time of his arrest, Jones was on supervised release for a previous federal firearms conviction. The terms of his release prohibited him from possessing firearms or committing another federal, state or local crime.

Jones is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 24 at 10 a.m.

He faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for possessing a firearm as a prohibited person and up to two years for violating the terms of his supervised release.