Bloomsburg Man Packs Heat, Gets 2 Years

⏱ 3 min read

Nelson Pineda-Chacon, 31, is trading his Bloomsburg, PA address for a federal prison cell after a late-night outburst of gunfire on May 7th. Cops called to his property found shell casings littered across his driveway. Pineda-Chacon admitted to blasting a 9mm Beretta into the ground, claiming he was “relieving stress.” But the real heat came from the fact he wasn’t supposed to have a gun at all.

Federal authorities quickly revealed Pineda-Chacon is a Honduran national who slipped into the country illegally back in 2009 and was already deep in deportation proceedings. That instantly turned possession of a loaded firearm into a serious federal offense. The Beretta was found stashed in his basement, with extra ammunition conveniently stored in a truck parked outside.

Yesterday, Chief U.S. District Judge Matthew Brann didn’t buy the “stress relief” story. He handed Pineda-Chacon a 24-month sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tatum Wilson led the prosecution, backed by ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations, Pennsylvania State Police, and local law enforcement from Montour Township and Catawissa.

Federal brass are framing the case under the banner of “Operation Take Back America,” tying it to a broader push against illegal immigration and transnational crime. But strip away the rhetoric: a man with a prior immigration case was illegally armed, creating a dangerous situation in a quiet Pennsylvania town. That’s what landed him in federal court.