Tulare County Man Sentenced to over 4 Years in Prison for Illegal Possession of a Firearm

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Christopher Sean Lee, 29, of Porterville, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller to a total of four years and one month in prison for illegal firearm possession, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.

Lee was sentenced to 46 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, and also received an additional sentence for violating the terms of his supervised release in a prior federal case.

According to court documents, on Sept. 15, 2023, while on supervised release from a 2020 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm, law enforcement officers encountered Lee during a vehicle stop and found him to be in possession of a loaded firearm. As the officer approached the vehicle where Lee was the front seat passenger, he saw Lee reaching behind the driver's seat. Officers found a 9 mm Glock 17 semi-automatic firearm on the floorboard underneath and behind the driver's seat in the area where Lee had been reaching. Officers also found a large capacity magazine containing 24 rounds of 9 mm ammunition.

This case was the product of an investigation by the Fairfield Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christina McCall 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.