Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Nicholas D. Gray, 38, of Sacramento, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on March 31, 2022, law enforcement officers responded to a domestic disturbance in Sacramento. Before officers arrived, Gray took a duffle bag of firearms from his residence and drove to a mini-storage facility. Officers contacted Gray at his storage unit and found him in possession of firearms, additional firearms parts and lower receivers, and ammunition. Gray has eight prior felony convictions which prohibit him from possessing a firearm, including 2016 convictions for arson and manufacturing controlled substances.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Yolo County District Attorney’s Office, the Sacramento Police Department, and the Woodland Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Sauvageau is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Gray 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 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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