It started when customs agents in New York City intercepted a silencer that was being shipped to Chicago. It ended with police finding two guns, an additional silencer, and an indoor shooting range at the home of a six-time felon, prosecutors said.
And then there’s the Facebook video that allegedly shows the accused man dancing with his guns and firing them on his basement range.
Ryan Gamboa, 34, is charged with two counts of unlawful use of a weapon by a felon and unlawful use of a silencer. Judge Susana Ortiz ordered him held in lieu of $200,000 bail.
China to Chicago via NYC
Gamboa’s troubles began a few days ago when U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York intercepted a package from China that allegedly had his name and Chicago address on it.
The agents “learned” that the shipment contained a firearm silencer, Assistant State’s Attorney Loukas Kalliantasis. They arranged to have the package delivered to Gamboa’s home on the 8400 block of South Escanaba by a U.S. Postal Inspector posing as a mail carrier Thursday.
Moments after surveillance units saw Gamboa take the package into his home, law enforcement units executed a previously-obtained search warrant on Gamboa’s house, Kalliantasis said.
They found the just-delivered package already opened. The silencer was stuffed inside a couch, Kalliantasis said. In the basement, police found an AR-15 rifle, loaded ammunition magazines, another silencer, and a 9-millimeter “ghost” gun, Kalliantasis alleged. Cops allegedly found assorted gun parts throughout the home and its back porch.
Dancing and shooting on Facebook
There were spent shell casings “all over the residence,” Kalliantasis said, and investigators found a video on Gamboa’s Facebook page that shows him firing the AR-15 and two other handguns on a “makeshift shooting range” in his basement, Kalliantasis said.
The video, titled “rounds of applause for Santa Claus,” was posted on Christmas evening. Watch:
‘Major steps’
Prosecutors said Gamboa admitted to possessing all of the guns, gun parts, and ammunition that police found. He also admitted to buying both silencers, Kalliantasis said.
Gamboa has previous felony convictions for possessing a stolen motor vehicle, escape, narcotics, and retail theft, according to Kalliantasis.
Assistant Public Defender Suzin Farber said he is married, works part-time as a carpenter, and received a general discharge after serving in the National Guard from 2008 to 2010.
“For lack of a better term, there is a shooting range that is found within this home,” Judge Ortiz observed before setting bail for Gamboa. He “went through some very major steps in order to obtain these silencers.”
She ordered Gamboa to go on electronic monitoring if he posts 10% of his bail to get out of jail.