Recent Prosecutions of Firearm Offenses in Sacramento Area

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — As part of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of California’s strategy to reduce violent crime by focusing on firearms prosecutions, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced the following cases involving illegal firearms offenses.

Kenneth Bryant, 27, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to dealing firearms without a license and illegally possessing a machine gun. According to court documents, Bryant met with an undercover agent and two confidential sources on 17 occasions between September 12, 2017, and December 8, 2017, and sold them a variety of firearms, including a fully automatic machine gun, several AR-15-type rifles and pistol, and handguns. In all, Bryant sold investigators 46 firearms, many of which lacked a serial number or other identifying markings. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on January 3, 2019.

Christopher Alexander Kemp, 29, of Sacramento, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr., to seven years in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon. In April 2018, Kemp pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a firearm as a felon.

These two cases are the product of an investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with special assistance from the Sacramento Police Department and the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office’s Gangs, Hate Crimes, and Narcotics unit. 

John Allan Trotter, 36, of Sacramento, pleaded guilty today to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense. According to court documents, Trotter was arrested after leading Sacramento County Sheriff’s detectives on a high speed chase. Trotter crashed his car and ran from law enforcement officers before being apprehended. Trotter had a loaded gun, methamphetamine, and a scale in his car at the time of the crash. Trotter is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on January 10, 2019. This case is the product of an investigation by the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Department, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Quinn Hochhalter is prosecuting the case.

Christopher Dyer, 34, of Rancho Cordova, pleaded guilty today to being a felon in possession of a gun. According to court documents, on May 3, 2018, sheriff’s deputies pulled alongside a pickup truck in which Christopher Dyer was the passenger. As soon as Dyer saw the deputies, he took a handgun from his lap and placed it in the back seat.  The deputies recovered a Glock 23 handgun with seven live rounds in the magazine during a subsequent search. A records check revealed that the gun was stolen. Dyer is a previously convicted felon and is prohibited from possessing a firearm. Dyer is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Troy L. Nunley on December 13, 2018. This case is the product of an investigation by Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office, the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, and the Rancho Cordova Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney David Spencer is prosecuting the case.

A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Dustin Joseph Albini, 35, of West Sacramento, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm. In May of this year, Albini was charged in a separate indictment (2:18-cr-101 JAM) with assaulting a Bureau of Land Management law enforcement officer who was in the course of performing his official duties on July 8, 2015, in Modoc County. That case is pending. The current indictment charges Albini with possessing two firearms, a loaded .45-caliber Colt MK IV handgun and a loaded .40-caliber Glock 27 handgun. This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Philip Ferrari and Matthew Thuesen are prosecuting the case.

The charges against Albini are only allegations; he is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

The maximum statutory penalty for being a felon in possession of a firearm or for illegal possession of a machine gun is 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The maximum statutory penalty for dealing firearms without a license is five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The statutory penalty for possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense is a mandatory minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of up to life in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

These cases are 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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.