POCATELLO – Laura Elena Rosales-Sanchez, 30, a Mexican national residing in Rexburg, Idaho, was sentenced today to 15 months in prison for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, and three years of supervised release following her prison term, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Rosales-Sanchez to forfeit the firearm in her possession. She pleaded guilty to the charge on May 25, 2011.

According to court documents, Sanchez was arrested in November 2010 after police officers responded to neighbors' complaints that they heard gunshots coming from Rosales- Sanchez's Rexburg apartment. Officers responded and found a .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol in the apartment. Rosales-Sanchez later admitted that she was frustrated and had fired two rounds from the gun outside her front door the night of her arrest. Rosales-Sanchez also admitted to being in the United States illegally. According to immigration records, Rosales- Sanchez had been previously deported to Mexico in 2008.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) with assistance from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case was prosecuted as part of Idaho’s Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.