SACRAMENTO - A federal grand jury returned a one-count indictment today against Tamaran Edward Bontemps, 20, of Granite Bay, charging him with possessing a firearm as a felon, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced. According to court documents, on April 18, 2018, law enforcement officers stopped a group of four men in Vallejo after officers noticed a gun-shaped object in one of the men’s clothing. The officers found a 9 mm handgun in the first man’s sweater.

During the encounter, one of the officers also saw an object inside Bontemps’ sweatshirt that the officer believed was a gun. Officers searched Bontemps and located a .40 caliber pistol holstered inside Bontemps’ sweatshirt. Bontemps cannot lawfully possess firearms or ammunition because he has previously been convicted of a felony offense.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Vallejo Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy H. Delgado is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Bontemps faces a maximum statutory penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. Attorney General Jeff Sessions reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime.