The United States Attorney for the District of Vermont announced that Christian Torruellas, 30, of Newark, New Jersey, was sentenced today in United States District Court in Burlington to 41 months of imprisonment following his guilty plea to a charge that he possessed a firearm as a convicted felon. Chief U.S. District Judge Geoffrey Crawford also ordered that Torruellas serve a three-year term of supervised release upon his release from prison. Torruellas has been detained since his arrest in February 2021.
According to court records, on October 6, 2020, a federal arrest warrant issued for Torruellas for supervised release violations. On Feb. 10, 2021, members of the United States Marshal Service arrested Torruellas while he was driving in Brattleboro, Vermont. Officers recovered a.38 caliber pistol from the floor of Torruellas’ car. Torruellas is prohibited from possessing firearms because he has a 2016 felony conviction in federal court in New Jersey for possessing firearms as a prohibited person.
Torruellas is represented by Karen Shingler, Esq. The prosecutors are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zachary Stendig and Gregory Waples.
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 Department 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 https://www.justice.gov/psn
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys