SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Guy Joseph Bass, 30, of Vacaville, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge John A. Mendez to eight years and 10 months in prison for being a felon in possession of ammunition, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert announced.
According to court documents, between August 2020 and November 2020, Bass possessed three different loaded firearms. On Aug. 17, 2020, Bass’ acquaintance drove him to the hospital, where Bass falsely reported to law enforcement that he had been shot by an unknown assailant, before eventually admitting that he had shot himself by accident. Officers recovered a stolen Walther P22 semi-automatic pistol from the acquaintance’s vehicle. On Sept. 18, 2020, Bass was arrested for an outstanding warrant. During the arrest, Bass admitted to having a firearm on his person. The loaded firearm was a non-serialized, privately made firearm, also known as a “ghost gun.” Finally, on Nov. 18, 2020, law enforcement officers spotted Bass and another individual parked in Vacaville. After a police dog alerted to the presence of narcotics, Bass handed an officer a bag of methamphetamine. A search of the vehicle resulted in the discovery of a another loaded, privately made firearm. Bass is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition because he has been convicted of several felonies, including a prior state conviction for possessing a firearm as a felon.
This case was the product of an investigation by the Fairfield Police Department, the Vacaville Police Department, the Solano County District Attorney’s Office, the FBI’s Solano County Violent Crimes Task Force, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. Assistant U.S. Attorney Adrian T. Kinsella prosecuted the case.
This case was prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.