FRESNO, CALIF. — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - California, Eastern), published as received.

FRESNO, Calif. — A two-count indictment was unsealed today charging Raymond Matthew Vance, 29, of Fresno, with two counts of being a felon in possession of a firearm, Acting United States Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced. 

According to court documents, Vance was in possession of two firearms on February 4, 2020, and an additional firearm on February 6, 2020. Vance committed the offenses in Stanislaus County. Vance was previously convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm in the Eastern District of California in 2019, and was serving a probationary sentence for that offense at the time that he possessed the firearms.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Turlock Police Department, the Modesto Police Department, the Tracy Police Department, the Stanislaus County Sheriff’s Office, and the Stanislaus County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Katherine E. Schuh is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Vance faces a maximum statutory penalty of ten years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

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 make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally based strategies to reduce violent crime. To learn more about Project Safe Neighborhoods, go to www.justice.gov/psn.