SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Desteny Estrella Leilani Salazar, 24, of South San Francisco, charging her with failure to appear, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, Salazar was charged in 2020 with possession of stolen firearms and burglary of a federally-licensed firearms dealer. While that case was pending, Salazar failed to appear for a court-ordered hearing.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin Lee is prosecuting the case.
If convicted of failure to appear, Salazar faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If Salazar is convicted in the original burglary case, she faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000 for both counts. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
