Rochester Man Sentenced to 87 Months for Role in Schenectady County Gun Store Burglary

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Juan Saez, age 38, of Rochester, New York, was sentenced to serve 87 months in prison for receiving, possessing and storing firearms stolen from Target Sports, Inc., a federally licensed firearms dealer in Schenectady County.

The announcement was made by Acting United States Attorney Antoinette T. Bacon and John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

Senior United States District Judge Norman A. Mordue also sentenced Saez to a 3-year term of supervised release and ordered that he pay restitution of $48,775.47.

Saez, already a felon for a 2014 drug offense, pled guilty on May 7, 2018.  As part of his plea, Saez admitted that on October 24, 2017, he traveled from Rochester to Amsterdam, New York, to meet Christian Roman and Jose Fontanez, who were on the run from law enforcement and hiding out with Omar DeJesus after stealing more than 60 firearms from Target Sports.  Saez agreed to help, and did help, Roman and Fontanez travel to Rochester, along with most of the stolen firearms.  After arriving in Rochester, Saez helped Roman and Fontanez avoid law enforcement and hide or sell the stolen firearms.

Christian Roman, age 25, of Schenectady, pled guilty in 2018 to stealing the firearms from Target Sports, and other, related charges.  He was sentenced to 150 months in prison.

Jose Fontanez, age 38, of Schenectady, pled guilty in 2018 to stealing the firearms from Target Sports, and other, related charges.  He was sentenced to 135 months in prison.

Omar DeJesus, age 32, and Onic Martinez, age 34, both of Amsterdam, pled guilty in 2018 for their respective roles in stealing, transporting, and possessing the firearms.  Both men were sentenced to 120 months in prison.

Dalmary Morales, age 24, of Schenectady, pled guilty in 2018 to stealing the firearms from Target Sports.  She was sentenced to 57 months in prison.

This case was investigated by the ATF, New York State Police, and the Glenville Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Wayne A. Myers.