Anonymous
By the Department of Justice
A convicted killer who admitted to illegally possessing a loaded firearm and threatening to shoot rival gang members at a public park in Ventura County despite the presence of children was sentenced today to 60 months in federal prison.
Jose Alcaraz Guerrero, 34, a.k.a. “Kruz,” of Ventura, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha.
Guerrero pleaded guilty on March 24 to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Guerrero admitted in court that he illegally possessed a firearm and ammunition at Moranda Park in Port Hueneme in May 2020 and that he illegally possessed another firearm during the following month.
Guerrero was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of his 2011 conviction in Ventura County Superior Court of voluntary manslaughter. Guerrero served nine years in California state prison for this conviction before being paroled in early 2020.
Guerrero’s reason for possessing a loaded firearm at a public park was “to shoot at rival gang members, notwithstanding the presence of innocent civilians who would be caught in the crossfire,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. Some of the bystanders in the park included children.
Guerrero has been in federal custody since July 2022.
The FBI investigated this matter, with substantial assistance from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, the Port Hueneme Police Department, and the Oxnard Police Department.
Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.
https://www.vox.com/23142734/unc-chapel-hill-shooting
I’m surprised they were able to get him on possession of a firearm and ammunition. That is not a crime as laws prohibiting possession are unconstitutional. I expect Hunter Biden’s upcoming trial which includes a charge of unlawful firearm possession will finally set a nationwide precedent and put an end to these unconstitutional prosecutions once and for all.
CHIP–I’m no legal scholar, but the article makes it sound like the perp was a convicted felon when he was arrested for this incident. I think he had lost his rights to own a possess a firearm.
Yes, you are correct. However, the recent Bruen decision by the Supreme Court requires a historical precedent for any firearm related laws dating to the 1790s or the 1860s when the fourteenth amendment was ratified. There is no such historical precedent to support laws prohibiting possession of firearms. Below is a link to an article about how the fifth circuit recently tossed similar charges for this reason. Hunter Biden will likely prevail in his trial with a similar defense, setting a nationwide precedent.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/politics/analysis-how-a-supreme-court-ruling-led-to-the-overturning-of-a-guns-and-domestic-violence-law