Gang member found with assault weapon one month after his brother was shot to death gets 40 month sentence
An on-the-lam gang member, arrested by SFPD officers with a stolen assault weapon loaded with 58 rounds, was sentenced to 40 months’ imprisonment this morning in federal court in San Francisco.
Ronnie Mitchell, 28, was under surveillance when he pulled his Dodge Charger in to the driveway of a home in Oakland. Police who moved to detain the eight time felon found an AR-15-style rifle in the car. They also found an arsenal of guns and ammunition inside the residence at which he had just parked.
“It’s a very, very serious offense,” said U.S. District Judge Susan Illston today. “No particular crimes were charged with respect to the gun that was in your car but it was dangerous – hugely so.“
Mitchell had earlier pleaded guilty to one count of ‘being a felon in possession of a firearm’.
One month before Mitchell’s arrest his older brother, Steven, was shot to death in Vallejo. And last year another brother, Paris Moffett Jr, was executed in the Oakland hospital bed where he lay paralyzed, himself having been shot in an October 2022 incident in which another man was also killed.
Mitchell’s stepfather, Paris Moffett Sr. was named by police as the leader of the Western Addition-based Eddy Rock gang in a 2007 court filing in support of a civil injunction against city gangs. Moffett Sr. was released last year from a 37-month federal sentence for firearm possession in San Francisco.
Mitchell’s own spectacular criminal history is marked by an arrest for first degree murder, serving a 68 month sentence for assault with a deadly weapon and threatening a crime with intent to terrorize, and leading police on a 130mph car chase that ended with a crash in which a passenger was ejected.
He denies being a member of the Eddy Rock gang.
It was Mitchell’s phone call while in custody, monitored by authorities, which led them to the culprits of the East Bay freeway shooting that killed 23-month-old Jasper Wu in November 2021. The Mercury News exclusively reported that Mitchell detailed the freeway gunfight on the call and provided information about one of the Eddy Rock gang members in the vehicle that was shot at by gang rivals.
Today in Courtroom 1 of San Francisco federal courthouse, Assistant U.S. Attorney Kevin Barry asked for a sentence of 77 months for the defendant’s possession of the “remarkably dangerous” weapon.
Barry told the court that it was “patently incredible” for Mitchell to maintain he was not a gang member.
The judge was ultimately persuaded by representations from defense attorney Karthik Raju which pointed to Mitchell’s strong family support and their commitment to getting him on a law-abiding path.
Raju had invited the court to impose a 30 month sentence.
“I would like to apologize to the community and to my family,” said Mitchell. “I’m tired of this life and I want to change. I’ve changed.”
“The defendant has a substantial criminal history for such a young man,” observed Judge Susan Illston.
“But he also is, bit by bit, acquiring responsibility, and people who depend on him, and people to whom he owes some loyalty, and he says he’s ready to change his lifestyle and I’m hoping that that’s true.”
The judge, who was originally minded to impose a 48-month sentence, ultimately settled on a 40 month term.
Earlier this year Mitchell narrowly failed in a bid to secure his freedom after U.S. Magistrate Judge Sallie Kim ordered his release on an ankle monitor. A Government appeal to Illston saw her promptly reverse the decision.
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