Thomas Christopher Hilton, Asan Durana Hayes, Ricardo Madrigal Indicted for Firearm Offenses
As part of its strategy to reduce violent crime, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California announced the following indictments involving illegal firearms offenses.
Thomas Christopher Hilton, 51, of Vacaville, was charged in a one-count indictment today with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Hilton cannot lawfully possess firearms because he has previously been convicted of a felony offense. This case is the product of an investigation by the Vacaville Police Department with special assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado is prosecuting the case.
photo/ Rob Brown
Asan Durana Hayes, 25, of Antioch, was charged with one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm. According to court documents, on August 16, 2018, during a traffic stop, discovered a Glock 9 mm pistol in Hayes’s possession. Hayes cannot lawfully possess firearms or ammunition because he has previously been convicted of a felony offense. This case is the product of an investigation by the Vallejo Police Department, with special assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado is prosecuting the case.
Ricardo Madrigal, 38, of Stockton, was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm and possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. According to court documents, officers executed a search warrant at Madrigal’s home on September 6, 2018, and found 15 firearms, including a short-barreled AR-style rifle with a folding stock, pistol grip, and no serial number. The short-barreled rifle had not been registered as required under federal law. Madrigal has prior felony convictions, making it illegal for him to possess a firearm. This case is the product of an investigation by ATF and the Lodi Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Spencer is prosecuting the case.
If convicted Hayes and Hilton face a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. If convicted, Madrigal faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for being a felon in possession, and 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine for possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. 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 defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
These cases were brought as 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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.
