Former National Guard task force member sentenced for illegal firearm possession offenses that came to light during an investigation into leaks of sensitive operational information

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Ruby Celly Uribe, 37, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins to two years and five months in prison for unlawfully possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered short-barreled rifle, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced. 

On May 26, 2026, a jury found Uribe guilty.

According to court documents and evidence presented at a trial, Uribe was assigned to the logistics shop at the California National Guard Headquarters in Mather, and was a member of the Counterdrug Task Force (CDTF). The CDTF supports local, tribal, and federal law enforcement entities in the interdiction of drug trafficking organizations. While assigned to this unit, Uribe leaked information about upcoming drug raids to a person she knew to be involved with drug dealing. Text messages recovered from Uribe’s and the drug dealer’s phones revealed she shared sensitive information about upcoming operations, including the date and location and the number of military vehicles and aircraft involved.

A federal search warrant of Uribe’s residence resulted in the discovery of a short-barreled rifle. The firearm had been modified to fire in full-automatic mode as a machine gun. In addition, it was a privately made firearm with no serial number, commonly referred to as a ghost gun. With certain exceptions, federal law prohibits the possession of machine guns and unregistered rifles with barrels shorter than 16 inches. A search of Uribe’s cellphone revealed that she was also engaged in trafficking other nonserialized, short-barreled machine guns, including to a co-worker on July 20, 2022.

During preparation for trial in this case, the FBI learned of another illegal firearm that Uribe sold in August 2022. The FBI safely recovered that firearm, which is also a machine gun and short-barreled rifle.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation with assistance from the California Military Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Adrian T. Kinsella and Nicole M. Vanek prosecuted the case.