Marine Vet Imprisoned in Mexico Could Face Weapons Charges in California Joshua Stewart - marinecorpstimes.com
go to original October 10, 2014

Happier Days: Sgt. Andrew Tahmooressi and mother Jill (Jill Tahmooressi)

Marine veteran Andrew Tahmooressi’s legal problems might not end in Mexico.

Lawmakers on Capitol Hill said recently that they expect Mexican authorities will release Tahmooressi in the near future. But American legal experts now say the former sergeant could face more charges once he returns to California for allegedly traveling through the state with loaded weapons in his vehicle.

Mexican authorities have accused Tahmooressi of crossing the border at San Ysidro from California on March 31 with firearms that are illegal there, outside of the military. The weapons he is accused of transporting, according to a statement from Mexico’s attorney general’s office, include: a .45 caliber pistol; a 5.56mm AR-15 rifle; and a 12-gauge shotgun — all of which authorities said were loaded. He was also accused of transporting additional magazines for each firearm.

“If he’s driving around with multiple loaded weapons in a car, that would be a problem under California law,” said John Donohue, a law professor at Stanford University who has studied gun laws.

Donohue said Tahmooressi “very likely” violated California’s restriction on AR-15-style rifles. Those types of firearm are legal only if they are registered, according to the state attorney general’s office. The registration deadline, however, was in 2001 — Tahmooressi moved to California from Florida in 2014.

Either the district attorney in San Diego County or the California Attorney General could level the charges, lawyers said.

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