The California Department of Justice Special Operations Unit and Human Trafficking / Sexual Predator Apprehension Team assisted with this case
“The arrest, prosecution and sentencing of this individual demonstrates the public safety work that is accomplished when law enforcement agencies work together to investigate potentially dangerous individuals and those who assist them in criminal activity.”
CSLEA President Alan Barcelona
On February 9, 2026, Jawana Washington, 45, of Clovis, was sentenced to 18 months in prison for aiding and abetting a felon in possession of a firearm as well as disposing of a firearm to a felon.
On September 3, 2025, Washington was convicted following a one-day trial. According to court documents and the evidence presented at trial, Jawana Washington knowingly provided her son, Taylor Washington—a documented gang member and convicted felon—her firearm.
On March 25, 2022, Jawana Washington agreed to lend her son her firearm, cautioning him not to do anything “crazy,” to use his own ammunition, and not to get her sent to jail. Minutes later, agents observed Taylor Washington arrive at his mother’s apartment complex, meet with her, and leave in a vehicle. During a subsequent traffic stop, officers recovered a Springfield Armory XD-9 handgun, registered to Jawana Washington, from the car’s center console. After the stop, Jawana Washington exchanged messages with others in which she acknowledged that Taylor Washington had her firearm and urged deletion of incriminating text messages.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Homeland Security Investigations; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Fresno Police Department; the Fresno-area Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC); the California Department of Justice Special Operations Unit; the California Department of Justice Human Trafficking / Sexual Predator Apprehension Team; the California Highway Patrol; the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office; the Kings County Sheriff’s Office; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin J. Gilio and Antonio J. Pataca prosecuted the case.
