Vallejo resident Marquese Alvin Roberts faces a federal indictment following his May arrest for firearm possession by a felon, marking his second brush with the law for a similar offense. The announcement came Thursday from U.S. Attorney Eric Grant, as Roberts, 36, was charged by a federal grand jury with one count of unlawful firearm possession, a crime that could see him behind bars for up to 15 years, along with a $250,000 fine, if convicted.
On May 3, a flurry of calls reporting gunshots on Vallejo's Fairgrounds Drive led law enforcement into action, aided by a California Highway Patrol helicopter and partner agencies. The high-flying observers caught sight of Roberts as he attempted to hide a firearm in the bushes after removing it from a vehicle. Ground units, directed by their eyes in the sky, nabbed Roberts and retrieved the weapon. At the time of the offense, Roberts was under supervised release following a 2018 conviction for a firearm offense linked to drug trafficking.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, this incident resulted from a collaborative effort involving the Vallejo Police Department, American Canyon Police Department, the CHP Air Unit, the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella is prosecuting the case, which highlights the interconnected nature of law enforcement in combating gun violence.
A repeat offender, Roberts was taken into federal custody on May 7 following a violation of his supervised release terms. It is important to note that the charges laid against Roberts are, at this stage, merely allegations. The defendant's innocence remains intact until proven otherwise in a court of law. His case falls under Project Safe Neighborhoods, a Justice Department initiative designed to ameliorate violent crime and gun violence, underscoring a collaborative push for safer communities.
