Two Fresno County Men Indicted for Firearms Charges

FRESNO, Calif. — A federal grand jury has returned two separate indictments against two Fresno County men for being felons in possession of a firearm. United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced.

In the first case, Adrian Delgado 31, of Mendota, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of a firearm in a school zone. According to court documents, on March 17, 2015, officers from Mendota Police Department encountered Adrian Delgado near Mendota Elementary School. Officers found a loaded Taurus, .327-caliber handgun in Delgado’s waistband. Delgado said he had just come from his child’s school. Delgado has prior felony convictions.

In the second case, Steven Estrada, 29, of Fresno, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, on April 23, 2015, Fresno Police Department officers responded to a report of an individual who had a gun behind an abandoned house. Officers arrived and encountered Estrada coming out of the garage behind an abandoned house. They located the gun that Estrada is charged with possessing in the garage. Estrada has prior felony convictions.

If convicted, Delgado faces up to 15 years in prison and a $500,000 fine, and Estrada faces up to 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. The charges are only allegations; the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

These cases are the product of investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Fresno Police Department and the Mendota Police Department. The cases are part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a joint initiative to combat gang and gun violence. The cases are being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kimberly Sanchez.