Yuba City Parolee Gets 10 Years in Prison for Unlawfully Possessing Handgun

SACRAMENTO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced today that Senior United States District Judge Edward J. Garcia sentenced Sue Vue, 28, of Yuba City, to 10 years in federal prison for his conviction by a jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm. A federal jury in Sacramento convicted him in July after a four-day trial.

According to testimony presented at trial, a Sutter County Sheriff’s deputy was patrolling the area of the Sutter Cemetery on March 14, 2009. He saw a traffic accident and stopped one of the involved vehicles to investigate. Vue was in that vehicle and refused to show the deputy his hands, ultimately fleeing on foot. The deputy gave chase through the cemetery, caught Vue, and tried to take him into custody.

Vue resisted arrest and removed a loaded Ruger semi-automatic handgun from his waistband. The deputy was able to jar the gun from his hand. The struggle continued for a few minutes until other emergency personnel helped the deputy. Vue also possessed a knife, a hatchet, and an additional loaded magazine matching the handgun. The handgun had been reported stolen years before and had been involved in shootings.

At sentencing, Judge Garcia said, “The defendant—a parolee—possessed during this incident a knife, a hatchet, a loaded handgun, and an extra loaded magazine. As he resisted and fought with Deputy Middleton, he drew that loaded handgun from his waistband. When the deputy jarred that gun free, the defendant continued to reach for it and was only prevented from doing so by the presence of multiple emergency personnel at the scene. The inescapable conclusion is that he was reaching for the handgun to shoot the deputy.”

This case was the product of an extensive investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sutter County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel S. McConkie and Todd Leras prosecuted the case.