Pasco Man Sentenced to More Than 7 ½ Years’ Prison for Possession of a Firearm

Spokane – Michael C. Ormsby, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that Victor Manuel Angulo, age 36, of Pasco, Washington, was sentenced today after having been found guilty after a jury trial of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Senior United States District Court Judge Edward F. Shea sentenced Angulo to a 92-month term of imprisonment and a three-year term of court supervision following release from federal prison.

Angulo was previously convicted of felony drug charges, specifically two counts of Delivery of Cocaine in 2000 in Franklin County Superior Court, for which he was sentenced to 21 months of imprisonment. In October of 2013, Angulo was convicted in Pasco Municipal Court of Assault-Domestic Violence against his former girlfriend, for which he subject to a no-contact order with his former girlfriend. According to testimony at trial, Angulo arrived at his former girlfriend’s home in Pasco, on the night of December 24, 2013, and let himself into her house when she was not there. Her parents arrived at the residence and found Angulo in her home at midnight, with a firearm. When his former girlfriend’s family called the police, Angulo fled out the backdoor of the residence and discarded the firearm in a neighbor’s trashcan prior to being apprehended by the responding Pasco Police Department officers. When arrested, Angulo had ammunition in his pocket and the Pasco Police officers located the discarded firearm.

According to information disclosed during court proceedings, at the time Angulo possessed the firearm, he was federally prohibited from possessing a firearm on four grounds: Angulo was a felon, Angulo had been convicted of a misdemeanor domestic violence assault offense, Angulo was subject to a no-contact order, and Angulo was a regular methamphetamine user.

Michael C. Ormsby, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, said, "Convicted felons, particularly those with domestic violence convictions and subject to no-contact orders, who violate those no-contact orders while possessing firearms, are particularly dangerous. Federal and local law enforcement officers are committed to protecting the community from such offenders. This case is just one example of the successful cooperation of the ATF and the Pasco Police Department to reduce gun-related violence in our community."

The investigation was conducted by the Pasco Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Mary K. Dimke, Assistant United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, and Brian Hultgrenn, a Special Assistant United States Attorney, from the Franklin County Prosecutor’s Office.