Faces Mandatory Minimum of 15 Years in Prison

BOISE – Martin Cantu Ruiz, 31, of Nampa, Idaho, was convicted today by a federal jury in Boise of unlawful possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.

During the two-day trial, the jury heard evidence that on March 23, 2011, a search warrant was served on a residence in Nampa, Idaho, where officers discovered a 12-gauge sawed-off shotgun with an obliterated serial number in a closet. Ruiz was arrested during execution of the search warrant.

Ruiz had previously been convicted of felony assault and felony possession of a firearm in Oregon; and aid and abet aggravated battery and battery on a correctional officer in Idaho. Because Ruiz has three or more violent felony convictions, he is deemed to be an armed career criminal subject to a mandatory minimum term of 15 years up to life in prison. Ruiz also faces a maximum fine of $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release.

Sentencing is set for December 3, 2012, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Boise.

The case was investigated by the Payette Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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