Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

A repeat offender who robbed a postal contract facility was sentenced last week to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. A few days later a separate defendant was convicted by a Tacoma jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm. Both cases highlight the focus on illegal weapons possession that is a priority in the Western District of Washington.

In the first case, CHAUNCEY WILLIAMS, 25, of Lakewood, Washington was sentenced to the ten year prison term for armed robbery and brandishing a firearm during a crime of violence. WILLIAMS is one of three men who robbed the Oakbrook Contract Postal Unit in Lakewood on June 7, 2011. The men pointed a gun at the clerk and demanded the money in the till. WILLIAMS was convicted by a jury on January 24, 2013. At the sentencing Monday, February 10, 2014, Judge Benjamin H. Settle said that “Nobody in this courtroom can understand the trauma of having a gun held to them in a robbery… (it was) that conduct that brought great harm to others.” WILLIAMS was identified as one of the robbers after cashing a money order taken in the robbery while on a trip to Hawaii.

In the second case, CARLOS CARMONA-GONZALEZ, 23, of Vancouver, Washington, was convicted Wednesday, February 12, 2014, of being a felon in possession of a firearm. The two day trial revealed that, in July 2013, CARMONA-GONZALEZ was seen by three police officers and one civilian eyewitness, placing a rifle wrapped in a jacket in his friend’s car. CARMONA-GONZALEZ is a prominent member of the Surenos gang in the Southwest Washington region. CARMONA-GONZALEZ is prohibited from possessing firearms because he has four previous felony convictions, including possession of MDMA (Clark County 2011), attempted assault (Clark County 2009), Escape (Clark County 2008) and assault (Clark County 2008). When sentenced by U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton on May 23, 2014, CARMONA-GONZALEZ faces up to ten years in prison.

The WILLIAMS case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) and the Lakewood Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Gregory A. Gruber and David Reese Jennings.

CARMONA-GONZALEZ was investigated by the Longview Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) with assistance from the Vancouver Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Roscoe Jones and Jill Otake.

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.