August 12, 2023 - LOS ANGELES, CA – A convicted killer who admitted to illegally possessing a loaded firearm and threatening to shoot rival gang members at a public park in Ventura County despite the presence of children was sentenced on Friday to 60 months in federal prison.

Jose Alcaraz Guerrero, 34, a.k.a. “Kruz,” of Ventura, was sentenced by United States District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rocha.

Guerrero pleaded guilty on March 24 to two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Guerrero admitted in court that he illegally possessed a firearm and ammunition at Moranda Park in Port Hueneme in May 2020 and that he illegally possessed another firearm during the following month.

Guerrero was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition because of his 2011 conviction in Ventura County Superior Court of voluntary manslaughter. Guerrero served nine years in California state prison for this conviction before being paroled in early 2020.

Guerrero’s reason for possessing a loaded firearm at a public park was “to shoot at rival gang members, notwithstanding the presence of innocent civilians who would be caught in the crossfire,” prosecutors argued in a sentencing memorandum. Some of the bystanders in the park included children.

Guerrero has been in federal custody since July 2022.

The FBI investigated this matter, with substantial assistance from the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office, the Port Hueneme Police Department, and the Oxnard Police Department.

Assistant United States Attorney Kathy Yu of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.

Source: DOJ Release