Jose Moreno, Machine Gun Manufacturing, California 2021

A Hanford man has been sentenced to 3 years and 1 month in prison for illegally distributing a machine gun. Jose Moreno, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to three years and one month in prison for illegally distributing a machine gun, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on May 22, 2019, Moreno sold a machine gun to an individual in a parking lot in Hanford. Shortly after the meeting, the individual departed in his car and law enforcement officers conducted a traffic stop. During a search of the car, officers found a fully automatic handgun with two 16-round magazines. Moreno's involvement in this machine gun sale and several others was uncovered during a months-long wiretap investigation into the Nuestra Familia Prison Gang operating in Kings and Tulare Counties.

The investigation revealed that Moreno was manufacturing and selling machine guns to street gang members. Moreno pleaded guilty on Aug. 30, 2021. He and co-defendant Eric Lopez Mercado, 27, of Lemoore, were indicted by a federal grand jury on Nov. 14, 2019. Charges are pending against Mercado. The charges against Mercado are only allegations; he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Kings County Gang Task Force; the California Department of Justice's Special Operations Unit; the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation; and the Kings County District Attorney's Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Justin J. Gilio, Katherine E. Schuh, and Kimberly A. Sanchez are prosecuting the case.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The charges against the defendants include illegally distributing a machine gun.

Mandatory facts: Defendant Jose Moreno, exact criminal charges: Illegally distributing a machine gun, City and State: Hanford, California, Exact Date: May 22, 2019, Sentence or outcome: Three years and one month in prison, no dollar amounts were provided.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edca/pr/hanford-man-sentenced-3-years-prison-manufacturing-and-distributing-machine-guns