POCATELLO – Michael Anthony Otero, 44, formerly of Pocatello, Idaho, was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for possessing an unregistered firearm, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also ordered Otero to serve three years of supervised release and forfeit the firearm found in his possession. He pleaded guilty to the charge on August 23, 2012.

According to the plea agreement, on October 9, 2011, the pickup truck Otero was driving in Power County, Idaho, was stopped by an Idaho State Police trooper for having an excessively loud muffler. Otero was arrested for driving on a suspended license and the vehicle was searched incident to the arrest. The trooper discovered a sawed-off shotgun in a backpack between the driver and passenger seats of the truck. According to the plea agreement, Otero admitted the weapon was his and told the trooper he carried it for protection. An ATF agent examined the CBC 20 gauge shotgun and determined it had been sawed off, having a barrel length of approximately nine inches and an overall length of 15½ inches. The firearm was not registered to Otero in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record.

The case was investigated by the Idaho State Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted as part of Idaho's Project Safe Neighborhoods Program, which seeks to reduce gun violence in Idaho.