SONOMA — Federal prosecutors here have charged an alleged “longtime gang member” with possessing a golden pistol he reportedly received from a drug cartel member, court records show.
Miguel Villavivar was charged with possession of a firearm by a person unlawfully in the United States, based on his apparent aficionado for gold-plated pistols. Prosecutors say Villavivar admitted to receiving one as a gift from a cartel member, and arranged to purchase another from someone off of Instagram, according to court records.
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The U.S. Department of Justice has also tried — and failed — to convinced a judge to keep Villavivar behind bars while the case is pending. The prosecution detention motion describes him as a “longtime” self-admitted member of the Puro Sureños Cholo who claimed he needed a gun because his life was threatened.
Villavivar’s lawyer acknowledged that he is not a citizen or permanent resident, but successfully argued that he’s no flight risk despite it. A defense motion says Villavivar’s gang involvement ended when he was a teenager, and that he was living a responsible life, having been employed at the same job for 18 years. The defense also argued that Villavivar has known he was in trouble since being charged with the same allegations in state court last year, yet made no attempt to flee.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Lisa Cisneros agreed to release Villavivar on a $7,500 bond during an April 3 court appearance, records show.
The criminal complaint, filed in late March, alleges that a CHP officer found a golden pistol on Villavivar during a traffic stop in Sonoma County last November. A subsequent search of his Instagram page found indications he bought a second gun off someone and complaint it “jammed” shortly after the purchase, prosecutors said.
When he was arrested, “Villavivar stated that the reason he carried a gun was that a former friend had sent people to threaten and kill Villavivar in relation to an incident involving ‘stuff with weed’ and people wanting to ‘collect,’” prosecutors wrote in court papers.
The next court date has been set for April 22.
