JEFFERSON COUNTY — A Jefferson County jury found a 32-year-old Mt. Vernon man guilty Thursday on both Class X charges against him of being an armed habitual criminal and armed violence.

James Lomax was on parole at the time of his arrest in June when he was a passenger in a vehicle stopped in Mt. Vernon.

Detectives reportedly located a loaded handgun in the vehicle along with narcotics. Prosecutors presented DNA evidence during the 2 ½ day trial that connected Lomax to the weapon.

Lomax has an extensive history of firearms-related charges, with four previous convictions for firearm-related offenses in Jefferson County dating from 2013-2019.

He was charged in 2019 in Marion County court with two felony counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm after Centralia police arrested him at the train depot.

According to Centralia police, Lomax had a shotgun in his possession when officers made a warrant check on him at the Amtrak Station in Centralia.

He was eventually charged in Marion County Court with two Class 3 felony counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm.

Those charges were ultimately dismissed after a responding officer was later arrested on a drug possession charge and ultimately suspended from the force.

Lomax is now facing between 6 and 30 years in prison on the armed habitual criminal count for which he’ll have to serve 85%, and between 15 and 30 years on the armed violence charge, of which he’ll have to serve 50%.