Evergreen Reporter

Springfield, Ill. – Walter Geovanni Arteta-Gonzalez, 33, was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment on July 10, 2024, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person and illegal reentry after removal. Santos Fernando Zepeda-Arteta, 21, received a sentence of 14 months' imprisonment on July 11, 2024, for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Both men are originally from Honduras.

At the sentencing hearings before U.S. District Court Judge Colleen R. Lawless, the government established that both Arteta-Gonzalez and Zepeda-Arteta possessed firearms knowing they were in the United States without legal documentation. On November 27, 2023, Springfield Police officers responded to a Springfield hotel to investigate shots being fired. After eyewitnesses were interviewed and hotel surveillance video was reviewed, both Arteta-Gonzalez and Zepeda-Arteta admitted to police officers that they possessed firearms. Further evidence showed both men holding firearms and firing several shots into the air on video footage.

Arteta-Gonzalez stated he fired rounds outside his hotel room “just for fun.” The gun possessed by Zepeda-Arteta was reported stolen from an unspecified location in St. Louis, Missouri.

Both Arteta-Gonzalez and Zepeda-Arteta have remained in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since their arrests in November of 2023.

The statutory penalties for possession of a firearm by a prohibited person include up to 15 years imprisonment; up to three years of supervised release; up to a $250,000 fine; and a $100 special assessment.

In addition to firearm possession charges, Arteta-Gonzalez faced sentencing for illegal re-entry into the country after prior removal. The statutory penalties for this charge include up to two years' imprisonment; up to a $250,000 fine; up to three years supervised release; and a $100 special assessment.

The case was investigated by the Springfield Police Department along with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Sangamon County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant United States Attorney Sierra Senor-Moore represented the government in prosecution.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), an initiative aimed at reducing violent crime and gun violence through collaboration between law enforcement agencies at all levels and community organizations.