WASHINGTON – Manuel D. Reynoso, 36, of Glen Burnie, Md., was found guilty today following a jury trial in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia of possessing a firearm with an extended magazine loaded with ammunition; possession of marijuana; and possession of N-Ethypentylone, announced U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu. 

            The verdict followed a trial before the Honorable Chief Judge Beryl A. Howell. Reynoso is to be sentenced on April 5, 2019.

            At the time of his arrest last spring by U.S. Secret Service (USSS) officers in Northwest Washington, Reynoso was on release pending sentencing for firearm and possession with intent to distribute marijuana offenses to which he had pled guilty in the Circuit Court for Prince George’s County, Md.

            According to the government’s evidence, on May 16, 2018, at approximately 1:19 a.m., Secret Service officers were on routine patrol in the 200 block of 17th Street NW, when they observed a BMW being driven without headlights.  The officers conducted a traffic stop of that BMW, which Reynoso was driving with two passengers.  An officer approached the driver’s side window and smelled the odor of marijuana.  The officer asked if anyone had been smoking in the vehicle, and Reynoso replied no.  Reynoso then voluntarily picked up and held in his hand marijuana that was wrapped in a dollar bill, showed it to the officer, and said, “This is all we have.”  As officers were asking the passengers to exit the BMW so that it could be searched, Reynoso, without being asked, got out of the BMW.  While fumbling with a cellular telephone in his hand, Reynoso began to walk toward the front of his car.  He then ran from the police.

            An officer conducted a plain view search of the BMW and observed in the front passenger door map pocket a magazine with ammunition for a subcompact pistol.  Following a search by Secret Service and U.S. Park Police officers, the defendant was found near the Tidal Basin, stopped, and arrested.  During an initial search of Reynoso at the Tidal Basin, a large amount of U.S. currency and other items were recovered from him.  While Reynoso was at the Park Police’s District One, additional U.S. currency and 0.069 grams of N-Ethylpentylone, a methamphetamine, were found on his person.

            Additionally, during a search of the BMW, an officer technician recovered a Glock 27 .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol with an extended magazine loaded with 20 cartridges from under the driver’s front floor mat; the magazine and ammunition from the front passenger door map pocket; 2.646 grams of marijuana; and a small amount of U.S. currency.  A total of $2,890 in U.S. currency was recovered.

            In announcing the verdict, U.S. Attorney Liu stated, “My Office’s top priority is the safety of the people who live and work in Washington, D.C., and that means protecting them from the danger posed by illegal firearms. This case shows our commitment to doing just that. This defendant previously had been convicted of a serious crime and had no business possessing a firearm.”

            U.S. Attorney Liu commended the work of the U.S. Secret Service officers who were the primary investigative officers, as well as officers and special agents from assisting law enforcement agencies, including the U.S. Park Police, the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  She also acknowledged the efforts of those who worked on the case from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, including Paralegal Specialists Rommel Pachoca, Catherine O’Neal, and Kim Hall; Supervisory Paralegal Specialist Mary Downing; Legal Assistant Latoya Wade, and Litigation Technology Unit Specialists Jeanie Lattimore-Brown, William Henderson, Leif Hickling, Kimberly Smith and Ron Royal.