MS-13 gang member from San Pablo gets 5 years prison in ghost gun case
A self-confessed member of the infamous Mara Salvatrucha criminal organization, also known as MS-13, was sentenced to over five years in prison for possessing a "ghost gun" or an untraceable firearm, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.
Christian "Casper" Quintanilla, 24, got 63 months in prison for illegally possessing 11 rounds of unfired ammunition in San Francisco's Mission District, federal prosecutors said in a statement Monday.
Quintanilla, a resident of San Pablo, admitted to the unlawful ammunition possession charge on March 19. Prosecutors said he confessed in a plea agreement that he was a member of the MS-13 20th Street clique.
"According to court documents, Quintanilla had been sentenced to 36 months' imprisonment for his participation in two MS-13 gang-related assaults in San Francisco and was therefore prohibited from carrying either a firearm or ammunition. Nevertheless, as described in court documents, Quintanilla was a passenger in a car with other MS-13 associates that led California Highway Patrol officers on a high-speed chase on June 17, 2023, after which officers located a handgun with a loaded magazine and a round in the chamber in the car," federal prosecutors said.
This violated the conditions of his supervised release, prompting authorities to issue an arrest warrant against him.
San Francisco officers saw Quintanilla near 16th and Mission Street in San Francisco on Sept. 7, 2023. He was arrested and officers seized from him a 9mm Polymer 80 pistol with an extended magazine containing 11 unfired cartridges of 9mm ammunition.
On Oct. 25, 2023, he was indicted with one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition.
Besides his prison sentence, Quintanilla is ordered to serve three years of supervised release to begin after his prison term is completed.
According to prosecutors, the judge also determined that Quintanilla's possession of the weapon and ammunition violated the terms of his release relating to his August 2021 conviction and revoked his release, imposing a sentence of 24-month imprisonment to run along with the 63-month term.
