Phoenix, Arizona - Last week, Eric Lorenzo Sanchez, 25, of Second Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Diane J. Humetewa to 18 months’ imprisonment, to be followed by three years of supervised release. Sanchez, an enrolled member of the Hopi Tribe, had previously pleaded guilty to possession of an unregistered weapon made from a shotgun.
On June 11, 2016, Sanchez was involved in a car accident on the Hopi Reservation. When law enforcement responded to the scene, they found a firearm near Sanchez’s car. Sanchez, a previously convicted felon, admitted that the firearm was his. The firearm was a 12-gauge shotgun, which had been modified to shorten the barrel and was not registered in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as is required for so-called “short-barreled” shotguns. The firearm’s serial number had also been obliterated in violation of the law.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Bureau of Indian Affairs – Office of Justice Services (Hopi Agency). The prosecution was handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alexander Samuels, District of Arizona, Phoenix.