Dealer In Illegal Gun Operation Sentenced To 8 Years In Prison
OAKLAND (CBS SF) -- An Oakland man who helped run an illegal pipeline of guns from Nevada to the Bay Area has been sentenced to eight years in prison, federal prosecutors announced late Monday.
United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Rayfield Roundtree announced in a joint news release that Jesus Angel Sanchez had been given sentence as part of a plea deal.
Federal prosecutors said Sanchez had played a role in an illegal gun operation and had sold at least 21 firearms to an undercover ATF agent.
According to court documents, between January 2018 and October 2018, the ATF acquired firearms from Sanchez; Anthony Reed, 23, of San Leandro; Rahsaan Faison, 23, of San Leandro; and Benjamin Gormley, 22, of Hayward.
Sanchez's co-conspirators acquired firearms in Nevada, brought them to the Bay Area to sell and advertised the firearms for sale on social media.
Then in November of 2018, prosecutors said, Sanchez agreed with Reed; James Medeiros, 25, of San Leandro; and Marcos Antonio Martenez, 25, of Oakland to rob one of the firearms buyers. Unknown to the men, the buyer was an undercover ATF agent.
Sanchez coordinated a ruse transaction, persuading the ATF agent to travel to a building in Oakland to purchase firearms for $8,000. Meanwhile, Sanchez's co-conspirators awaited in ambush.
When the agent arrived, Sanchez met the agent in front of the building and instructed the agent to follow him to the back of the building. Medeiros and Martenez were waiting at the back of the building, and when the agent arrived, the co-conspirators robbed him at gunpoint.
Reed, Sanchez, and Medeiros were apprehended by federal agents leaving the scene of the robbery. Martenez was arrested on November 23, 2018.
Sanchez and his co-conspirators have been sentenced as follows:
- Anthony Reed -- Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence -- 96 months' imprisonment, 5 years supervised release, $100 special assessment
- Jesus Angel Sanchez -- Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence -- 96 months' imprisonment, 5 years supervised release, $100 special assessment
- James Medeiros -- Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence -- 84 months' imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, $100 special assessment
- Marcos Antonio Martenez -- Using, Carrying, and Brandishing a Firearm During and in Relation to a Crime of Violence -- 84 months' imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, $100 special assessment
- Benjamin Gormley -- Conspiracy to Deal in Firearms without a License -- 3 years' probation including 6 months' home confinement, $2200 fine, $100 special assessment
- Rahsaan Faison -- Conspiracy to Deal in Firearms without a License -- Sentencing scheduled November 4, 2019
Also charged in the firearms trafficking conspiracy was Julaan Faison who remains a fugitive.
