Felon Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Trafficking Firearms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Jeremy Michael Benner, 40, of San Diego, was sentenced today to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully dealing in firearms, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, between September 2022 and 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 as a previously convicted felon would not be qualified to obtain a license.

This case was 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 prosecuted the case.

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.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

The Sacramento Region/San Francisco Bay Area Cross-Jurisdictional Firearms Trafficking Strike Force is one of five cross-jurisdictional strike forces launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2021 to disrupt illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country. Each strike force is led by designated U.S. Attorneys, who collaborate with the ATF and with state and local law enforcement partners within their own jurisdiction as well as law enforcement partners in areas where illegally trafficked guns originate. The strike forces use the latest data, evidence, and intelligence from crime scenes to identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes, and are an important part of the Department’s Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy.