Department of Justice

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment Thursday against Anthony Jair Demedeiros, 23, of Weaverville, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on Feb. 9, 2021, law enforcement received a report of Demedeiros boarding a bus, carrying a duffel bag believed to contain a firearm. Demedeiros was on searchable Post Release Community Supervision (PRCS) from a prior conviction in Tehama County for carrying a concealed firearm when having been previously convicted of a felony, and also had prior arrests for violent crimes.

Officers located the bus they suspected Demedeiros had boarded and followed it. When it came to a stop, officers boarded the bus and detained Demedeiros. Next to Demedeiros’ seat, officers saw a bag matching the description of the reported duffel bag. Demedeiros denied the bag was his and no other party on the bus claimed it as theirs. Officers seized the bag and inside it found a Bushmaster Carbon-15 .223-5.56 caliber rifle, with a telescope, partially disassembled (making it more readily concealable). All parts were present to reassemble a complete and operational rifle. The rifle had a round in the chamber and a 10-round magazine loaded with four rounds. A records check of the rifle’s serial number indicated that it had been reported stolen from an address in Trinity County.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Redding Police Department, and the Shasta County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney James Conolly is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Demedeiros faces a maximum statutory penalty of 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, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.