ASHEVILLE, N.C. (828newsNOW) — An Asheville man has been sentenced to 21 months in federal prison for illegally possessing firearms, including a handgun investigators linked to four shootings in the city.
Zyon Zashawn Jacobs, 21, was sentenced Tuesday, Oct. 6, and will serve three years of supervised release after leaving prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina.
Jacobs was on state probation when investigators found two Glock 9mm pistols during a search of an Asheville apartment in November 2025.
One of the guns was equipped with a device known as a “Glock switch,” which can convert a semiautomatic handgun into a weapon capable of automatic fire.
Jacobs initially denied possessing the guns. But when investigators searched his cellphone with his consent, they found photos and videos showing him with both weapons, according to federal prosecutors.
The evidence showed Jacobs had possessed one of the guns as early as Sept. 3, 2025.
When investigators questioned him again and showed him the evidence, Jacobs admitted possessing the firearms. He maintained, however, that the Glock switch was not attached to the gun while it was in his possession.
Investigators later determined that one of the pistols had been used in four Asheville shootings on July 23, Aug. 7, Sept. 2 and Sept. 21, 2025.
Federal prosecutors did not say Jacobs was responsible for the shootings or provide details about whether anyone was injured.
“One of the two guns Jacobs possessed was used in four separate shootings in Asheville,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in a news release. “That’s too many lives one person is putting at risk, and we will use all the federal tools available to remove people like that from the streets.”
At the time the guns were discovered, Jacobs was serving probation for 2024 state convictions of possession with intent to manufacture, sell and deliver marijuana, common law robbery and assault with a deadly weapon inflicting serious injury.
He pleaded guilty in June 2026 to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Asheville Police Department, Buncombe County Sheriff’s Office and Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.