A member of the notorious MS-13 gang, known in the streets as "Casper," has received a sentence of over five years for unlawful ammunition possession in the San Francisco Mission District. Christian Quintanilla, 24, from San Pablo, faced the music at the hands of Chief United States District Judge Richard Seeborg, confirmed by First Assistant United States Attorney Patrick D. Robbins and Homeland Security Investigations Special Agent in Charge Tatum King, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The sentencing follows an encounter between Quintanilla and San Francisco Police Department officers near 16th Street and Mission Street, where he was caught with a "ghost gun," an untraceable 9mm Polymer 80 pistol equipped with an extended magazine holding 11 rounds of ammunition. The offense, which occurred on Sept. 7, 2023, not only violated Quintanilla's federal supervised release related to his previous participation in MS-13 gang activities but also his legal incapacity to carry firearms or ammunition due to a prior conviction. According to U.S. Attorney's Office court documents, Quintanilla's prior offenses included a 36-month sentence for two gang-related assaults in San Francisco.
Quintanilla accepted his guilt regarding the ammunition charge on March 19, leading to a federal grand jury indictment the following October. On top of the 63-month prison term, he's also set for three years of supervised release and had his release revoked by Chief Judge Seeborg, who further imposed a concurrent 24-month imprisonment. Both decisions take into account his prior convictions for gang-related assaults and response to the high-speed chase that involved California Highway Patrol officers back in June 2023. This incident unearthed a loaded firearm present in the vehicle.