8 People Accused In Gun-Running Scheme Involving Robbery And Drugs
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- Two Oakland men and six Nevada residents are facing charges in federal court in Oakland of conspiring in the illegal sales of guns transported from Nevada to the Bay Area.
The eight men and women were accused in a 64-count second superseding indictment issued under seal by a federal grand jury in Oakland on April 20 and unsealed on Tuesday.
Andre Martel Winn, 31, and Edgar De La Cruz, 19, both of Oakland, are accused of traveling to Reno to pick up guns bought by the Nevada defendants and then returning to Oakland to sell the firearms to Bay Area residents for cash or drugs.
The new indictment adds the gun trafficking charges and the six Nevada defendants to two previous versions of indictments that charged Winn and De La Cruz with gun possession and the armed robbery of an Oakland gas station in 2015.
Winn and De La Cruz are now each charged with conspiring to deal in firearms without a license, 54 counts of selling guns without a license in 2015 and 2016 and two counts of interstate travel to promote illegal firearms sales in 2016.
The two men are also accused of three counts of conspiring to rob, robbing and using a gun to rob an Oakland gas station on High Street on Nov. 21, 2015.
Winn is additionally charged with one count of being an ex-felon in possession of a gun and De La Cruz faces three counts of possessing cocaine and marijuana with the intent to sell it.
The six Nevada defendants are each accused of conspiring to deal in firearms without a license and various counts of dealing in firearms without a license.
Jonathan Salevao, 27, and Richard Straight, 27, both of Reno, are also accused of interstate travel to promote illegal guns sales.
The other Nevada defendants are Jenna Jeanne Allec, 26, and Kaleka Mile Kam, 23, of Reno; Kenneth Lee Kemp, 32, of Elko; and Taylor Taufi, 24, of Sparks.
Winn and De La Cruz are in custody in connection with the previously filed federal charges. They, Allec and Kam are to be arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nandor Vadas in Oakland on May 8.
The other defendants were due to be arraigned in Reno Wednesday, according to U.S. Attorney's Office spokesman Abraham Simmons.
The charges carry sentences of between five years and life in prison if the defendants are convicted.
Prosecutors said the case resulted from the collaboration of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the San Leandro, Oakland, Reno and Sparks police departments.
"We appreciate the efforts of the many law enforcement officials whose selfless dedication has brought an end to this gun running scheme," U.S. Attorney Brian Stretch said in a statement.
"The removal from our neighborhoods of illegal firearms will remain a priority of this office," he said.
The case began with the federal indictment of Winn, who had previous state gun and drug convictions, on charges of illegal possession as an ex-felon of a loaded Glock firearm found in an air vent of his Oakland apartment in November 2016.
In January, a first superseding indictment added charges of the Oakland gas station robbery against Winn and De La Cruz. That document was in turn replaced by the second superseding indictment last month.
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