Syracuse Man Sentenced to 60 Months as Felon Possessing Firearms

SYRACUSE, NEW YORK – Luis Matos, age 31, of Syracuse, was sentenced today to serve 60 months in federal prison for his possession of four (4) firearms as a convicted felon, announced United States Attorney Grant C. Jaquith, John B. DeVito, Special Agent in Charge of the New York Field Division of the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and Chief Kenton Buckner, City of Syracuse Police Department (SPD). In addition to the 60-month prison sentence imposed today, Matos was also ordered to serve a three-year term of supervised release when he is released from incarceration.

In pleading guilty previously, Matos admitted that he was a convicted felon when he possessed three (3) rifles sold during an undercover ATF and SPD firearms purchase operation in Solvay, New York, on December 19, 2018. He further admitted that he possessed a fourth rifle sold during a second undercover purchase in Syracuse on January 14, 2019. Luis Matos was a previously convicted felon (Criminal Possession of a Controlled Substance in the Third Degree, a class B New York State felony from July 2018) and was on probation at the time he possessed the firearms in this case.

This case was investigated by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Syracuse Police Department-Special Investigations Division (SPD-SID). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard Southwick as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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