Four months ago, Jarred Dubois got a plea deal that kept him out of jail, but the judge and prosecutors aren't being lenient this time around.
Dubois is charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition. He pleaded guilty to a felony in June after his two-year-old son found a loaded gun in their home. The boy accidentally killed his six-year-old half-sister, /*Emily Lavender*/.
Dubois met with a probation agent at the beginning of September. She says she made it clear he needed to get rid of any ammunition at his home. But 29 days later, a spot check uncovered dozens of rounds of ammunition in his garage.
In the middle of Dubois' cluttered garage, state agents found bullets by the dozens. The officers are undercover, so we can't show you their faces, but they say the ammunition was scattered all over the garage.
"(One of the officers) found a black canvas bag that contained seven AR-15 30-round magazines and I believe one of the magazines contained eight rounds of .223 ammunition," said California Department of Justice Special Agent Fred Frausto.
In all, agents found about 80 rounds of live ammunition at a home where there should have been none.
Dubois isn't allowed to own any weapons or ammunition after pleading guilty in June to criminal storage of a firearm.
Dubois admitted to leaving two loaded guns where the five children in his home could access them. His 2-year-old son found one, and accidentally killed his 6-year-old half-sister, Emily Lavender.
Dubois got probation for his role in the deadly accident. Shortly afterwards, his probation officer says Dubois admitted he might still have ammunition in his home.
"I advised him to immediately go home after we got done with our appointment, go in his garage, into his home, into his vehicle, and search and re-search his home for any ammunition and remove it immediately," said probation officer Sophia Doukas.
Dubois' attorney says his client has been depressed since Emily's death, and he honestly didn't know he still had any ammunition after moving from the home where she was killed.
"There are things maybe he should've done, but given his state of mind, he didn't go through everything as carefully as he should've and there was ammunition there," said Mark Coleman. "He didn't know it."
Prosecutors offered Dubois a deal Thursday that would've sent him to jail for 16 months. He rejected it. If a jury convicts him, he could face a three-year prison sentence.
Dubois wanted to testify at his hearing Thursday, but his attorney says it would've been useless. He may take the stand if the case goes to trial.
