Jury Convicts Sacramento Man of Gun Offense

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - A federal jury found Anthony Carter, 23, of Sacramento, guilty on Tuesday of being a felon in possession of firearms, U.S. Attorney Eric Grant announced.

According to court documents and evidence presented at a trial held before U.S. District Judge Dena Coggins, on Dec. 4, 2023, law enforcement officers responded to a call for service regarding a parking disturbance involving a firearm at an apartment complex in South Sacramento. When officers arrived, they saw four individuals, including the defendant and his co-defendant Isaiah Rowland, 30, of Antelope. While officers conducted their initial investigation, a nearby resident informed police that his Ring security cameras had just captured two men hiding firearms underneath a trash can at the corner of his apartment building.

Officers reviewed the Ring camera footage, which showed two individuals running toward the corner of the building at approximately 11:05 p.m. In a video, Rowland is seen kneeling to hide a firearm under a trash can while Carter stands nearby, looking around as if to act as a lookout. Immediately after Rowland finishes, Carter is seen crouching at the same trash can and placing a second firearm beneath it. Both men then leave the area on foot. The Ring cameras did not activate again from when Rowland and Carter discarded their firearms to when the Ring camera owner secured the firearms. Subsequently, the Ring camera owner turned the firearms over to police. The two firearms were a .40-caliber Glock 27 and a Springfield Armory XD 45 pistol. Carter is prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions including illegal firearms possession.

The Sacramento Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zulkar Khan and Caily Nelson are prosecuting the case.

In August 2024, a grand jury charged both Carter and Rowland with being a felon in possession of a firearm. Rowland pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, and was sentenced on Sept. 19, 2025, to 33 months in prison.

Carter is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Coggins on Sept. 25, 2026. Carter faces a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

This case is the result of the ongoing collaboration between the Sacramento Police Department and its local, state, and federal partners as part of a Public Safety Partnership (PSP) to address violent crime in the community. Started in 2022, the Sacramento PSP is a multi-faceted violence-reduction strategy that relies on innovative data-driven strategies to promote public and community safety. Participating PSP partners include: the Sacramento District Attorney's Office, Sacramento FBI, Sacramento DEA, Sacramento ATF, the Sacramento U.S. Marshals, and the U.S. Attorney's Office.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.