Chicago — A six-time convicted felon who posted social media videos of himself firing guns on a makeshift shooting range that he set up in his basement has been handed a 6½-year sentence for illegal gun possession.
Ryan Gamboa, 35, pleaded guilty to use of a firearm by a felon in exchange for the sentence from Judge William Gamboney. Prosecutors agreed to drop several other felony charges in the plea deal, including possession of a rifle with a short barrel and possession of silencers.
Gamboa’s latest troubles began about a year ago when customs agents in New York City intercepted one of the silencers, which was in transit from China to Gamboa’s address, prosecutors said. The silencer investigation resulted in police finding two guns, an additional silencer, and an indoor shooting range at Gamboa’s house.
A U.S. Postal Inspector posing as a mail carrier delivered the intercepted silencer to Gamboa, and cops raided his South Side home minutes later. The silencer was already stuffed inside a couch, prosecutors said.
In the basement, police allegedly found an AR-15 rifle, loaded ammunition magazines, another silencer, and a 9-millimeter “ghost” gun. Assorted gun parts were strewn throughout the home and its back porch.
There were spent shell casings “all over the residence,” an assistant state’s attorney said after Gamboa was arrested. A video on Gamboa’s Facebook showed him firing the AR-15 and two other handguns in his basement.
The video, titled “rounds of applause for Santa Claus,” was posted on Christmas evening, 2021. Watch:
Gamboa has previous felony convictions for possessing a stolen motor vehicle, escape, narcotics, and retail theft.
His sentence will be cut in half for good behavior. He also received 454 days of credits that will be applied toward his prison time. He is scheduled to be released in November 2024, according to Illinois Department of Corrections records.