Bakersfield Gang Member Sentenced for Being a Felon in Possession of Firearms
| U.S. Attorney’s Office September 23, 2011 |
FRESNO, CA—United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Demond Hayden, 30, of Bakersfield, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill to six years and five months in prison for being a felon in possession of firearms.
According to his guilty plea, Hayden admitted that he possessed a Hi-Point .45-caliber handgun, a Glock Model 22 .40-caliber handgun, and a Mossberg 500 shotgun with a pistol grip.
In sentencing Hayden, Judge O’Neill rejected Hayden’s claim that his criminal history was overstated. Hayden is a documented member of the East Side Crips, one of Bakersfield’s most notorious criminal street gangs. He has prior felony convictions for possessing cocaine for sale in 2003 and being a felon in possession of a firearm in 2006.
This case is the product of an joint investigation by the Bakersfield Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. Assistant United States Attorney Elana S. Landau prosecuted the case.