Officer Ryan Fedo with a ghost gun at the Providence Police Department's firing range. C1063 00 14 18 21 Still012
Sacramento, California – In a case that reads like a tightly wound crime thriller, a Sacramento man has pleaded guilty to a laundry list of federal charges, including assaulting law enforcement officers, drug trafficking near a school, and possession of unregistered firearms — among them, fully automatic ghost guns and a pipe bomb.
Jason Raysean Broadbent, 38, entered his guilty plea on Thursday in federal court. The charges stem from a violent 2015 confrontation with federal agents, who had come to serve a search warrant at his girlfriend’s home in Sacramento. According to court documents, Broadbent responded not by opening the door, but by opening fire through a bedroom wall.
Federal agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives had knocked, announced their presence, and forced entry when no one answered. As they entered the living room, Broadbent fired multiple rounds from the bedroom — bullets that narrowly missed several agents. He then fled through the back of the home and attempted to climb a fence, where he was confronted by another ATF agent. Broadbent raised his pistol. The agent shot him multiple times. Broadbent survived.
The bedroom from which he fired was a small arsenal and drug hub: officers discovered nearly two pounds of methamphetamine, multiple firearms, and a pipe bomb. A safe in the room contained a semi-automatic pistol and more explosives. Broadbent was operating within 1,000 feet of Christian Brothers High School, a detail that significantly compounds the severity of the drug charges.
A concurrent search of Broadbent’s own residence painted an even darker picture. Inside his bedroom, authorities recovered an additional 2.5 pounds of meth, a loaded pistol hidden in a backpack, and two untraceable AR-15 style rifles — ghost guns — with short barrels and illegal “lightning link” conversion devices capable of turning them into fully automatic weapons.
Broadbent, already barred from owning firearms due to multiple prior felony convictions, now faces a potential sentence of 50 years in prison under a plea agreement. His sentencing is scheduled for October 23. Though the law allows for a maximum life sentence and a fine up to $20 million, the final decision will rest with U.S. District Judge Daniel J. Calabretta.
This case, prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys David Spencer, Justin Lee, and Nicole Vanek, is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative. But beyond federal strategies and policy language, it lays bare the ongoing challenge of addressing high-stakes gun violence and drug trafficking that continues to surface in unexpected pockets of American cities — sometimes just blocks from a high school.
