Defendant possessed two assault rifles and more than a thousand rounds of ammunition
SAN JOSE - Christian Arballo was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, announced United States Attorney Brian J. Stretch and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Jill Snyder. The sentence was handed down yesterday by the Honorable Beth Labson Freeman, United States District Judge, following a guilty plea entered on April 19, 2016.
As part of his plea agreement, Arballo, 41, of Hollister, admitted that he had two previous criminal convictions, each of which prevented him from being entitled to legally possess firearms or ammunition. Nevertheless, on Aug. 10, 2015, Arballo possessed two assault rifles, including a commercial variant of the AK-47, as well as approximately 1,222 rounds of ammunition in four different calibers.
Arballo was indicted on Aug. 20, 2015, and charged with one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1), and one count of being a person convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence offense in possession of firearms and ammunition, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Pursuant to his plea agreement, he pleaded guilty to the first count and admitted the conduct in the second count, which was dismissed.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Freeman sentenced Arballo to a three-year period of supervised release that will commence after he completes his prison sentence. The defendant has been on pretrial release since Aug. 19, 2015, and will begin serving his sentence on Jan. 2, 2017.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonas Lerman is prosecuting the case with assistance from Elise Etter. The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the ATF.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
