Fresno Man Who Illegally Manufactured and Sold Firearms Sentenced to 4 Years and 9 Months in Prison

FRESNO, Calif. — Steven Eric Cabrera, 27, of Fresno, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Dale A. Drozd to four years and nine months in prison for illegally possessing a machine gun, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, in May 2020, Cabrera attempted to sell a firearm to a customer, who was an undercover law enforcement officer. Several months later, in January 2021, Cabrera posted videos and photographs in which he advertised firearms for sale on his social media account. Law enforcement executed a search warrant at his residence and seized ammunition, firearms manufacturing equipment, and several firearms, including a machine gun. Cabrera was arrested and charged with several federal firearms offenses. In April 2022, Cabrera pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun.

The case was the result of an investigation by the Multi-Agency Gang Enforcement Consortium (MAGEC), the Fresno Police Department, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Justin J. Gilio prosecuted the case.

This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.