May 8, 2024 - LOS ANGELES - A Ventura County man is in federal custody after being charged with illegally possessing ammunition, the FBI announced today on behalf of the Ventura County Violent Crime Task Force.

Cody James Sutton, 30, of Ventura, was taken into federal custody on Friday from state custody where he had been incarcerated.

Sutton, who is reputedly affiliated with the Hells Angels motorcycle gang, was charged with being a felon in possession of ammunition in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Los Angeles on April 30, 2024.

According to the indictment, Sutton knowingly possessed ammunition in March 2024; namely, 25 rounds of Remington 9mm Luger caliber ammunition, 15 rounds of which were contained in a black handgun that lacked a serial number, which is commonly referred to as a “ghost gun,” in and affecting interstate and foreign commerce.

Defendant Sutton possessed such ammunition knowing that he had previously been convicted in Ventura County Superior Court in June 2023 of leaving the scene of an accident and causing injury, a felony crime.

The ammunition was found when a probation search was conducted for Sutton and he was found to be armed with a firearm and a box of ammunition.

Sutton made his initial appearance on Friday in United States District Court, where he was released on $15,000 bond and ordered to home confinement. A pretrial conference was scheduled for June 14, 2024, and a trial date has been scheduled for June 25, 2024. If he were to be convicted, Sutton would face a statutory maximum sentence of 15 years in federal prison.

The investigation into Sutton is being conducted by the Ventura County Violent Crime Task Force, which includes the FBI, the Oxnard Police Department, the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, and the Ventura Police Department. Law enforcement partners at the state, local, and federal level continue to target violent crime and firearm-related violence within Ventura County as part of the FBI’s Safe Streets Initiative and the United States Attorney’s Office Operation Safe Cities.

Assistant United States Attorney Alexandra Michael is prosecuting this case.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
Source: FBI