ANCHORAGE – An Anchorage man was sentenced Thursday to 57 months in prison and three years of supervised release by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess for being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court documents, on July 31, 2020 Ronald Fetuao Maefau, 45, drove a car to an Anchorage apartment complex and began firing multiple rounds into one of the units. He then proceeded to drive away. Later the same day, APD made a traffic stop of the car used in the apartment shooting and took the driver, Maefau, in for questioning. After obtaining a search warrant for the vehicle, law enforcement found a Glock pistol in the glove compartment, .45 ammunition and multiple spent .45 caliber cartridge casings. A trace on the firearm indicated that it had been reported stolen. Maefau had multiple prior felony convictions, including attempted murder, which made it illegal for him to possess a firearm.

Maefau pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm in March 2021.

“Congress made it a crime for convicted felons to possess firearms in order to keep guns away from persons determined to be potentially dangerous,” said U.S. Attorney John E. Kuhn Jr., of the District of Alaska. “Maefau’s violent criminal history and recent dangerous conduct shooting a gun into a dwelling illustrate for all of us the importance of enforcing this offense. I commend the ATF, the Anchorage Police Department and our prosecutor for their efforts to protect Alaskans.” 

“The callousness of Mr. Maefau’s actions clearly warrant this sentence,” said ATF Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan T. McPherson. “The rounds he fired could have killed anyone – man, woman or child. Thankfully, through the use of Anchorage Police Department’s NIBIN system we were able to definitively tie Mr. Maefau to this shooting.  This sentence will make Anchorage’s streets safer.” 

“Good police work led to the apprehension of Mr. Maefau,” said Anchorage Chief of Police Kenneth McCoy. “This is an example of how the Anchorage Police Department and our federal partners are working to keep Anchorage citizens safe.”

The Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the Anchorage Police Department (APD) investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Vandergaw prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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.

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  apd, doj, felon, ronald maefau, sentencing, weapons