Man Sentenced to 2 Years Following Guilty Pleas to Gun Charges After Police Recovered Concealed Firearms, Auto Sear in 2024 Traffic Stop

NORFOLK, Va. — Yakaem Jordan-Woodard, 18, was sentenced in August to serve two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to possessing a machine gun and carrying concealed firearms during a traffic stop last year.

Around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, 2024, a Norfolk Police officer pulled over a vehicle with expired temporary tags in the 700 block of 25th Street. As the officer walked up to the vehicle, he noticed the rear driver-side passenger, later identified as Mr. Jordan-Woodard, frantically stuffing his hands into the back pocket of the driver’s seat, which had a bag hanging from it. The officer asked Mr. Jordan-Woodard to show what he was hiding, and he showed an extended firearm magazine containing ammunition in the seat pocket. The officer had the four occupants of the vehicle step out of the car and, while they were doing so, noticed another backpack on the floorboard being manipulated by the other back-seat passenger.

After backup arrived, the officer searched the floor of the vehicle. Inside the backpack was a Draco AK-style pistol with an extended magazine. A Glock 22 handgun missing a back plate had been concealed beneath the backpack. The pocket behind the driver’s seat also contained a Glock switch, also known as an auto sear, which attaches to the back of a Glock pistol to allow the firing of multiple rounds with a single pull of the trigger. Auto sears qualify as machine guns under Virginia law.

The officers detained Mr. Jordan-Woodard — who had just turned 18 and was wanted on juvenile detention orders at the time — and charged him with possessing a machine gun, possessing a concealed firearm, and possessing an auto sear.

On June 5, 2025, Mr. Jordan-Woodard entered an agreement to plead guilty as charged to felony possession of a machine gun and misdemeanor possession of a concealed firearm. In exchange for his guilty pleas, the Commonwealth agreed to the dismissal of the remaining auto-sear charge. There was no agreement to his sentence, and there were no state sentencing guidelines for the specific charges Mr. Jordan-Woodard was facing. Judge Jennifer L. Fuschetti accepted Mr. Jordan-Woodard’s plea agreement.

On Aug. 15, after hearing arguments from the Commonwealth and the defense, Judge Fuschetti sentenced Mr. Jordan-Woodard to serve two years in prison and suspended another four years on the condition that Mr. Jordan-Woodard complete three years of uniform good behavior and supervised probation following his release.

“Illegal automatic weapons have no place in our streets and neighborhoods,” said Commonwealth’s Attorney Ramin Fatehi. “While the responsible bearing of arms is a constitutional right, we must hold accountable the people who possess illegal and dangerous guns.”

Senior Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Shavaughn N. Banks prosecuted Mr. Jordan-Woodard’s case, Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney George M. Afentakis prosecuted the juvenile co-defendant’s case, and Norfolk Police Officer Alexander W. Bender led the investigation.

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