Two Honduran nationals, Walter Geovanni Arteta-Gonzalez, 33, and Santos Fernando Zepeda-Arteta, 21, were sentenced to 18 and 14 months in prison, respectively, for possessing firearms while in the United States illegally.
The sentences were handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Colleen R. Lawless following hearings where evidence revealed that both men knowingly possessed firearms despite their illegal status.
The charges stemmed from a November 2023 incident at a Springfield hotel where police responded to reports of gunfire.
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Hotel surveillance video and eyewitness accounts confirmed that Arteta-Gonzalez and Zepeda-Arteta had fired shots into the air. Arteta-Gonzalez even admitted to doing so “just for fun.”
Further investigation revealed that Zepeda-Arteta’s firearm was stolen from St. Louis, Missouri.
In addition to the firearm possession charge, Arteta-Gonzalez faced an additional sentence for illegally re-entering the country after a prior removal. Both men have been in custody since their arrests in November 2023.
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The case was investigated by the Springfield Police Department, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Sierra-Senor Moore represented the government in the prosecution.
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