West Sacramento Man Indicted for Illegal Possession of Handgun, Ammunition, and Methamphetamine
SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a three-count indictment today against Rudy Tafoya, 54, of West Sacramento, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and possession of methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, in May 2021, Tafoya was stopped for a traffic violation and found to be in possession of ammunition, a firearm, and methamphetamine. At that time, Tafoya was on supervised release for a previous conviction of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Tafoya is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition on account of six prior felony convictions, including two felony crimes of violence.
This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office; and the West Sacramento Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Sauvageau is prosecuting the case.
If convicted, Tafoya faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the ammunition and firearm counts and up to an additional year for the methamphetamine count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after considering 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 being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, 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.
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