Project Safe Neighborhoods

Man Sentenced to 15 Years as an Armed Career Criminal After Admitting to the Arson of a Silverton Restaurant and Possession of a Firearm in Layfayette

Portland, Ore. – Ronald Wayne Davidson, 41, was sentenced by U.S. District Court
Judge Anna J. Brown to 15 years in federal prison, followed by 60 months of supervised release
as a result of his November 19, 2007 plea of guilty to arson and being an armed career criminal
in possession of a firearm. Davidson qualified as an armed career criminal because of his prior
convictions for burglary, robbery and arson.

In Davidson’s plea, he admitted he was responsible for an arson fire on December 11,
2006, in which he set fire to a trash can at the Towne House Restaurant in Silverton as a
diversion to steal money from the cash register. The arson was investigated by the Silverton
Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Investigators found
Davidson stole $475.00 from the cash register and caused fire damage in the amount of $775.00.

Davidson also admitted possessing a firearm in Layfayette on December 23, 2006 and
that he brandished the firearm at an individual outside of a market that same date. That incident
was investigated by the Yamhill County Sheriff’s Office, McMinnville Police Department, and
the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms.

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). According to
U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut, “PSN’s goal is to reduce gun violence and create safer
communities by prosecuting firearms offenses in federal court where serious sentences are
available for illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.”

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, the Yamhill
County Sheriff’s Office, the McMinnville Police Department, and the Silverton Police
Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Fred Weinhouse.

All media inquiries about Project Safe Neighborhoods in Oregon should be directed to:

Fred Weinhouse
Assistant U.S. Attorney
U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Oregon
503-727-1000
E-mail: Fred Weinhouse