“When someone is firing rounds from a rifle in the backyard of a home, lives are put in danger. Law enforcement officers respond to and face that danger in order to protect people from harm. We thank them for their dedication to the safety of others.” – CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

FRESNO, Calif. — On January 23, 2023, the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California announced Mario Carranza, 38, of Mexico, was sentenced to four years and three months in prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition.

According to court documents, on March 17, 2020, law enforcement officers responded to a house in Fresno County after receiving a report of shots being fired in the backyard. Carranza and another individual were observed getting into a car and leaving the area. The responding officers stopped the car, searched it, and recovered a disassembled, short-barrel, AR-15 style rifle with no serial number (known as a ghost gun) and a compatible firearm magazine loaded with 10 rounds of ammunition. Carranza had fired the AR-style rifle in the backyard of the residence. He is a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Fresno County Sherriff’s Office, the Fresno Police Department, the Special Operations Unit of the California Department of Justice and the California Highway Patrol, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and the Fresno County District Attorney’s Office.