A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a Gary man to more than 12 years in prison after he pled guilty to shooting at a letter carrier in 2021.
Jerron Donte Williams, 34, was sentenced to 153 months in prison followed by 3 years of probation on Wednesday by Senior Judge Jon E. DeGuilio after pleading guilty to assaulting and inflicting bodily injury on a U.S. Postal Service Letter Carrier with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during the assault, according to a release from United States Attorney Clifford D. Johnson.
On April 2, 2021, a letter carrier was delivering mail in the 4200 block of Tennessee Street in Gary and she stopped the postal vehicle to organize mail, according to the criminal complaint. Williams was backing his vehicle out of a driveway and collided with the letter carrier’s postal delivery vehicle. He yelled at the letter carrier, and exited his vehicle, records state. The letter carrier tried to defuse the situation but Williams entered a residence and the letter carrier heard a female passenger in Williams’ car say, “I gotta get out of here.” Believing that her life was threatened, the letter carrier tried to back up her delivery vehicle to avoid other cars and hit Williams’ car, court records state.
Williams emerged from the house holding a handgun and started firing while the delivery vehicle was in motion. Bullets struck the postal vehicle four times and shattered the right-side window, causing injuries to the letter carrier’s face and neck, the complaint states. A witness saw the delivery vehicle speed down the street and heard the letter carrier screaming.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Service, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Gary Police Department, and the Hobart Police Department, and the case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Nicholas J. Padilla.
In 2018, Williams was convicted of a felon in possession of a firearm and resisting law enforcement; he completed his 30-month sentence through work release. In 2014, Williams was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in a Gary burglary.
Post-Tribune archives contributed.
