Colorado Springs Man Sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison for Illegal Reentry into the United States and Illegal Alien in Possession of a Firearm

DENVER – Jose De Jesus Cordova-Saldana, 29, of Colorado Springs, Colorado, was sentenced yesterday to serve 18 months in federal prison following his March 5, 2018 entry of a guilty plea to Illegal Alien in Possession of a Firearm and Illegal Reentry into the United States, both felonies.  The proceedings were held before U.S. District Judge Raymond P. Moore.  Cordova-Saldana’s guilty plea followed a January 2018 indictment.

Court documents indicate that on the day after Thanksgiving, November 24, 2017, Cordova-Saldana engaged in a drunken joy ride with friends through the residential streets of Colorado Springs firing weapons in the air, including a Beretta Nano 9mm firearm, a Glock 9mm handgun, and an American Tactical AR-15 assault rifle.  The defendant was later found by local police slumped over and passed out in the back seat of a Chevrolet Silverado pick-up truck with a host of weapons, live ammunition, and discarded shell casings.  All firearms and ammunition were confiscated by authorities.  Previously, in January 2014, Cordova-Saldana was convicted of 3^rd Degree Assault, causing injury to the victim, and later deported to Mexico that same year after serving a state jail sentence.

Following his sentencing hearing, Cordova-Saldana was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshal’s Service and is expected to be deported again to his native country of Mexico after serving his sentence.

The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) along with the Colorado Springs Police Department. The prosecution was handled by Wayne Paugh, Special Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Colorado, Denver.