SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico - On Jan. 27, 2021, a federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment charging Nelson Grau-Cruz with possession of a machinegun, announced W. Stephen Muldrow, United States Attorney for the District of Puerto Rico. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with the collaboration of the San Juan Municipal Police (SJMP) are in charge of the investigation of the case.
On Jan. 20, 2021, officers from the SJMP were conducting a preventive patrol in San Juan, P.R. and conducted a traffic stop on a Mitsubishi Lancer. The driver, later identified as Nelson Grau-Cruz, stopped the Lancer. During the traffic stop, the officer observed a black pistol magazine protruding from a bag in the car. After additional interactions that led police to understand that there was an illegal firearm in the car, the defendant was placed under arrest and the officers seized from the car one Glock pistol and six magazines. The firearm had a modification that allowed it to automatically shoot, without manual reloading, more than one shot by a single function of the trigger, thereby classifying it as a machinegun.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Luis A. Valentin and Jonathan L. Gottfried, Chief of the Violent Crimes and National Security Section, are in charge of the prosecution of the case. If convicted, the defendant faces up to 10 years in prison.
An indictment contains only charges and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
