In federal court, Vallejo man gets three years for being a felon in possession of a gun

A federal judge in Sacramento on Thursday sentenced a 52-year-old Vallejo man to three years and 10 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, officials said.

William Michael Nitschke, who appeared in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California, heard Judge Troy L. Nunley hand down the sentence.

In a press release, Acting U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert said court documents showed that on Feb. 22, 2019, Nitschke, while driving in Solano County, was found to be in possession of a Smith & Wesson 9 mm handgun.

Nitschke had been convicted previously of several felonies, including a 1996 assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and is prohibited from possessing a firearm.

Court records indicate Nitschke faced a grand jury indictment on the single charge on Aug. 1, 2019, and he later agreed to plead guilty.

He was represented by Sacramento attorney Mike Hansen.

The case stemmed from an investigation by the Solano County Sheriff’s Office with assistance from the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force and the Solano County District Attorney’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella prosecuted the case.

The case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the centerpiece of the U.S. Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locallybased prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime, Talbert noted in the prepared statement.