SACRAMENTO — A 23-year-old Vallejo man was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for unlawfully possessing a machine gun, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced last week.

In February 2019, Solano County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call reporting that someone was shooting a fully automatic weapon on the levee in the unincorporated area of Solano County, near Dixon. When deputies arrived, they spoke with a group of witnesses, several of whom saw Jake Edward Howland firing the pistol.

When the deputies searched Howland, they found an empty .40-caliber high-capacity magazine in his pocket. They also found a .40‑caliber pistol nearby that had been modified to function as a machine gun. This was the gun Howland was firing moments earlier. Howland pleaded guilty on Aug. 21.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Solano County Sheriff’s Office, with assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado prosecuted the case.