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Press Release

Bakersfield Man Charged with Illegally Possessing a Firearm That Was Converted into Machine Gun

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of California

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against Liodam Gonzalez, 27, of Bakersfield, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced.

According to court documents, on Aug. 30, at 3:20 a.m., law enforcement officers received an alert indicating that gunshots had been fired on South Kern Street in Bakersfield. The spent shell casings were traced to Gonzalez’s residence where more bullet casings were found on the car that he drove. A search of the residence yielded a Glock handgun that was converted to fire as a fully automatic machine gun.

This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Bakersfield Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Newman is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Gonzalez faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Updated September 19, 2019

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods