CALIFORNIA – The U.S. Attorney’s Office announced, June 6, a federal grand jury indicted a Salvadoran man with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
On January 16, law enforcement officers received information that Helan Noel Lopez-Sanchez, 32, a citizen of El Salvador and felon who had escaped from police custody, was located at a Motel 6 in Fresno after he logged into his Snapchat account.
The Fresno Sheriff’s Office’s SWAT team served an arrest warrant at the Motel 6.
Officers observed Lopez-Sanchez pointing a rifle at the motel door
According to court documents, SWAT operators sent a drone into the motel room, where they observed Lopez-Sanchez pointing a rifle at the door.
Law enforcement officers ultimately took Lopez-Sanchez into custody and located ammunition as well as a short-barreled, privately manufactured rifle.
Lopez-Sanchez is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to felony convictions including bringing alcohol or drugs into a jail and grand theft.
If convicted, Lopez-Sanchez faces up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
This case is the product of an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Fresno County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Veneman-Hughes is prosecuting the case.
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