United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of California

03/28/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 03/28/2024 17:01

San Francisco Man Sentenced for Trafficking Firearms

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Rondell Cramer, 45, of San Francisco, was sentenced today to five years in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release for unlawfully dealing in firearms, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

According to court documents, on June 1, 2022, while driving in Fairfield, Cramer was pulled over for driving a vehicle without a license plate. The officer arrested Cramer, who was then wanted on two outstanding felony warrants. A search of his vehicle resulted in the discovery of a Glock 9 mm caliber firearm, as well as a bill of sale for another firearm and stolen merchandise, much of which still had antitheft tags on them. Cramer is not allowed to possess firearms or ammunition because he has previously been convicted of six felony offenses, including a prior conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm. A search of Cramer's phones revealed multiple conversations showing that Cramer was buying firearms in Arizona under an alias, and then selling them in California. Follow-on investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) confirmed that Cramer had been trafficking firearms since at least August 2020.

This case was the product of an investigation by the California Highway Patrol and the ATF. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

The Sacramento Region/San Francisco Bay Area Cross-Jurisdictional Firearms Trafficking Strike Force is one of five cross-jurisdictional strike forces launched by the U.S. Department of Justice in July 2021 to disrupt illegal firearms trafficking in key regions across the country. Each strike force is led by designated U.S. Attorneys, who collaborate with the ATF and with state and local law enforcement partners within their own jurisdiction as well as law enforcement partners in areas where illegally trafficked guns originate. The strike forces use the latest data, evidence, and intelligence from crime scenes to identify patterns, leads, and potential suspects in violent gun crimes, and are an important part of the Department's Comprehensive Violent Crime Reduction Strategy.