Daniel Anthony Garcia, 28, of Pueblo, Colorado, is going to federal prison for nearly three years after terrorizing a home with a loaded .45-caliber pistol — a weapon he wasn’t legally allowed to touch. U.S. District Judge Christine M. Arguello slapped Garcia with a 37-month sentence for being a felon in possession of a firearm, a crime rooted in a violent December 2015 home invasion. Following his time behind bars, Garcia will face three additional years under federal supervision.
Garcia admitted his guilt on October 13, 2016, after evidence mounted from a joint investigation by the ATF and Pueblo Police Department. On December 6, 2015, he stormed into an occupied residence, pistol-whipped a man, and fired a shot to intimidate the victims. One of the occupants recognized Garcia and tipped off authorities, setting off a chain of events that led to his arrest seven weeks later. Shell casings recovered at the scene became the smoking gun — literally — when matched through the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN).
On January 25, 2016, officers tracked Garcia to a home in Pueblo. As they approached, they saw him bend down and slide something under a bed. With consent to search, they pulled out a .45-caliber pistol later confirmed by NIBIN testing to be the same weapon used in the earlier home invasion. The firearm had been test-fired, and the digital ballistic signature sealed Garcia’s fate.
Garcia had prior felony convictions that barred him from owning any firearm — a fact that escalated the case to federal level. His criminal history, combined with the use of a deadly weapon during a violent intrusion, triggered enhanced penalties under federal law. He has been in custody since his January 2016 arrest and was immediately remanded to the U.S. Marshals Service following sentencing.
“There is an elite state and federal task force in Southern Colorado targeting gun violence,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Bob Troyer. “You use guns when you shouldn’t, and hell will be coming to breakfast.” ATF Acting Special Agent in Charge Ron Humphries credited NIBIN and local detectives for closing the case, stating, “Garcia would not have been under federal investigation if not for NIBIN. Thanks to the ballistics information from NIBIN and the stellar detective work by Pueblo PD and ATF, Garcia will not be able to terrorize the community for many years to come.”
The case was spearheaded by the Southern Colorado Crime Gun Intelligence Center — a multi-agency fusion of ATF, Colorado Springs PD, El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, Fountain PD, Pueblo PD, state probation, corrections, and federal and district prosecutors. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kurt J. Bohn prosecuted the case, ensuring Garcia’s violent access to firearms ended behind federal bars. The unit continues to use NIBIN and real-time intelligence to stop shooters before they strike again.
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Key Facts
- State: Colorado
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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