Felon Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Firearms in Vallejo

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jeremy Michael Benner, 39, of San Diego, pleaded guilty today to unlawful dealing in firearms, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between September 2022 to August 2023, Benner sold firearms to a confidential informant on four separate occasions in Vallejo. One of the firearms had previously been reported stolen, and three of them came with extended magazines. Benner did not have a license as a firearms dealer, and could not have obtained a license if he tried because he is a previously convicted felon.

This case is the product of an investigation by the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella is prosecuting the case.

Benner is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on Dec. 11, 2023. Benner faces a maximum statutory penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will 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.

This case is 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 gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.