Men sentenced to prison, home detention for illegal gun trafficking in Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO >> Two men have been sentenced in connection with a federal investigation into illegal firearms trafficking in the Bay Area, according to recently filed court records.

William Alexis-Villa was sentenced to two years in federal prison; his co-defendant, Erik AcevedoCruz, was sentenced to three years of home detention, court records show. Alexis-Villa pleaded guilty last year to possessing a machine gun, and Acevedo-Cruz pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered firearm, both federal offenses.

Both men were sentenced in late April before U.S. District Judge Vince Chhabria, court records show. Both men resided in the Menlo Park area at the time of the offenses, according to court records.

During the 2019 investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, authorities sent a confidential informant wearing a tiny audio and video recording device to befriend both defendants and arrange to purchase guns from them. At one point, with the secret camera rolling, AlexisVilla showed the informant a cellphone video of himself shooting a pistol out the window of a car, prosecutors wrote in court records.

Other evidence included a selfie photograph of both defendants posing with pistols, which they allegedly sent to the informant on Instagram, authorities said.

Alexis-Villa’s attorney asked for a 20-month sentence and said his client either plans to help out troubled youth or assist a family member running ranches in Mexico upon his release from prison.

Acevedo-Cruz wrote an apology letter to Chhabria in which he said “I understand the consequences of what I have done and accept them.”

“The time I was in custody haunts me day by day I have learned from this situation and will never be in a situation like this or any other situation that causes the pain that my family is suffering right now,” Acevedo-Cruz wrote. “I understand I made a huge mistake. I promise I will never make the same mistake again.”