East Bay Man Sentenced To Eight Years In Prison For His Role In Firearms Trafficking And Robbery Of Undercover Federal Agent

OAKLAND – Jesus Angel Sanchez was sentenced to 96 months in prison for using, carrying and brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, announced United States Attorney David L. Anderson and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Special Agent in Charge Rayfield Roundtree.  The sentence was handed down today by the Honorable Haywood S. Gilliam, Jr., U.S. District Judge.

Sanchez, 20, of Oakland, pleaded guilty to the charge on June 11, 2019.  According to his plea agreement and other court filings, the charges against Sanchez arise from two separate, but related, conspiracies.  

The first conspiracy was an agreement between multiple individuals in the East Bay to sell firearms without a license.  Between January 2018 and October 2018, the ATF acquired 35 firearms from Sanchez; Anthony Reed, 23, of San Leandro; Rahsaan Faison, 23, of San Leandro; and Benjamin Gormley, 22, of Hayward.  Sanchez’s co-conspirators acquired firearms in Nevada, brought them to the Northern District of California to sell, and advertised the firearms for sale on social media.  Sanchez was personally responsible for the sale of at least 21 firearms to an undercover ATF agent. 

With respect to the second conspiracy, in November of 2018, Sanchez agreed with Reed; James Medeiros, 25, of San Leandro; and Marcos Antonio Martenez, 25, of Oakland, to rob one of the firearms buyers.  The buyer was, in fact, an undercover ATF agent.   Sanchez coordinated a ruse transaction with the ATF agent, persuading the ATF agent to travel to a building in Oakland to purchase firearms for $8,000.  Sanchez knew that his co-conspirators were carrying firearms to conduct the robbery.  When the agent arrived, Sanchez met the agent in front of the building and instructed the agent to follow him to the back of the building.  Medeiros and Martenez were waiting at the back of the building, and when the agent arrived, the co-conspirators robbed him.  Medeiros and Martenez brandished firearms and pointed them at the agent while Sanchez demanded the agent’s money.  Reed, Sanchez, and Medeiros were apprehended leaving the scene of the robbery.  Martenez was arrested on November 23, 2018.

On November 29, 2018, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment, charging Sanchez, Reed, Medeiros, Martenez, Faison, and Gormley with multiple crimes related to the two conspiracies in which Sanchez admitted participating.  

Sanchez and his co-conspirators have been sentenced as follows: 

Also charged in the firearms trafficking conspiracy was Julaan Faison who remains a fugitive.  He, like all defendants, is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Samantha Schott is prosecuting the case with the assistance of Jessica Rodriguez Gonzalez.  The prosecution is the result of an investigation by the ATF, with the assistance of the Alameda County Sheriff’s Office, California Highway Patrol, and the Oakland Police Department.