RICHMOND, Va. - A Chesterfield man pleaded guilty today to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
According to court documents, Carlos Azucar Menjivar, 21, was encountered by Chesterfield County police officers after they observed his vehicle parked at a construction site after hours. Officers approached the vehicle and noticed that it was missing tags. As officers were speaking with him, they observed a license plate in the front windshield, and when officers ran that tag, it came back to another vehicle. During this interaction, one officer observed the magazine well of a firearm as well as a box of ammunition in plain view in Menjivar’s vehicle.
Officers then had Menjivar, who was previously convicted for attempted robbery in 2015, exit the vehicle and searched the vehicle to retrieve the firearm. In a backpack in the rear of the vehicle, officers found a total of three, individually packaged firearms with prices written on the outside of the packaging. Another firearm was located in the glove compartment of the vehicle.
Menjivar pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison when sentenced on June 25. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
G. Zachary Terwilliger, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, Ashan M. Benedict, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives’ (ATF) Washington Field Division, made the announcement after U.S. District Judge John A. Gibney, Jr. accepted the plea. Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather H. Mansfield is prosecuting the case.
A copy of this press release is located on the website of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia. Related court documents and information is located on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia or on PACER by searching for Case No. 3:19-cr-10.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
