BOISE – Gustavo Collado Rodriguez, 20, and David Angel Prieto, 22, both of Caldwell, Idaho, were sentenced today for unlawful possession of a pistol and a sawed-off shotgun, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. Senior U.S. District Judge Edward J. Lodge sentenced Rodriguez to 60 months in prison, and sentenced Prieto to 36 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. Both defendants pleaded guilty on August 11, 2015.
According to court documents, Prieto and Rodriguez went to a residence in Caldwell, Idaho, where Rodriguez demanded money and pointed a pistol at the occupant of the home. Prieto and Rodriguez fled before police officers arrived, but officers were able to track them by following footprints in the snow to a nearby shed. Inside the shed, officers found Rodriguez and Prieto along with a sawed-off 12 gauge shotgun and a 9 millimeter pistol with a high capacity magazine loaded with hollow point ammunition. Rodriguez is prohibited from possessing firearms because he is an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States. Prieto is prohibited from possessing firearms because he was previously convicted of the felony crime of possession of a controlled substance. According to information presented in court, both Prieto and Rodriguez associate with a criminal gang. Judge Lodge ordered Prieto to have no contact with criminal gangs upon his release from prison. Rodriguez will likely be deported after serving his prison sentence because he was unlawfully in the United States. The firearms involved in the offense were forfeited.
The case was investigated by the Caldwell Police Department and the Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crimes Task Force. The Treasure Valley Metro Violent Crime Task Force is comprised of federal, state and local agencies, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Boise Police Department; Ada County Sheriff’s Office; Caldwell Police Department; Nampa Police Department; Meridian Police Department; Canyon County Sheriff’s Office; and Idaho Department of Probation and Parole.
The case was prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office, the Treasure Valley Partnership and the State of Idaho to address gang crimes. The Treasure Valley Partnership is comprised of a group of elected officials in southwest Idaho dedicated to regional coordination, cooperation, and collaboration on creating coherent regional growth. For more information, visit treasurevalleypartners.org.