Prison ordered over gun possession
Weapon later used to shoot officer after man sold it
A 22-year-old Milwaukee man was sentenced Thursday to 20 months in federal prison after he was convicted of illegally possessing a handgun that was later used by another man to shoot Milwaukee Police Officer Brandon Baranowski.
Alonso Sandoval came to the attention of police when authorities traced the Ruger .22-caliber handgun used to shoot Baranowski last July.
Sandoval did not know the man who shot the officer — the gun changed hands at least twice before reaching the shooter — but he had his cousin buy the handgun because he was underage and then possessed it for a time after he had a felony marijuana conviction, prosecutors said.
He should have known a gun in the wrong hands, at the wrong time, is “nothing short of a recipe for disaster,” U.S. District Judge J.P. Stadtmueller said.
The gun was purchased by Sandoval’s cousin, Emanuel Romo, from the Shooters Shop in West Allis on Jan. 31, 2014. Sandoval was 19 at the time and therefore prohibited from buying a handgun under federal law, according to court records.
Romo, 24, of West Allis, has pleaded guilty to a federal straw purchase charge and is expected to be sentenced Jan. 24.
After getting the gun, Sandoval was convicted of a felony in January 2015 and received two years’ probation. Once he was arrested last year, his probation was revoked and he was ordered to serve one year in prison.
There’s no indication Sandoval ever used the gun for violence and it apparently was used more as an asset to sell for cash to feed his marijuana addiction and gambling habit, said his attorney, Matt J. Ricci. Sandoval, a high-school graduate, has a supportive family and one prior conviction with no juvenile offenses, he said.
In court, Sandoval apologized for his “poor choices” and said he wished he could “go back and change what happened” but knew he could not.
Federal sentencing guidelines recommended 30 to 37 months in prison and one to three years of probation, while prosecutors requested a sentence of 24 months.
Stadtmueller, saying Sandoval was the 1,925th person he has sentenced, imposed 20 months in prison and two years of supervision.
The judge also noted a renewed public focus on high incarceration rates in the United States and pointed out the number of federal prisoners has declined from a high of 219,586 in June 2013 to 189,450. It costs taxpayers $87.62 per day per inmate, he said.
Court records show Sandoval told investigators he sold the gun to a suspected gang member, according to court documents. The gun eventually reached Tomas Uriegas, who is accused of using it to ambush Baranowski on July 17 while the officer responded to a domestic violence call, police said.
Authorities said Uriegas committed suicide soon after the shooting. Baranowski was treated for gunshot wounds at a hospital and released several days later. Baranowski received the department’s Purple Valor/Purple Star medal — one of the department’s highest honors — while he recovered in the hospital.