A San Francisco jury acquitted the illegal immigrant who killed Kate Steinle – but now, he’s facing federal charges.
Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, who is in the United States illegally from Mexico, was charged with one count of “felon in possession of a firearm,” and of “being an alien illegally and lawfully in the United States in possession of a gun and ammunition.”
Steinle, 32, was shot by Zarate at a crowded tourist pier in San Francisco in July 2015 with her father. After the fatal shot, Steinle died in her father’s arms.
The case came to national attention as part of the nationwide fight against sanctuary cities: Zarate, who claimed he had accidentally fired the shot that killed Steinle, had been released from a San Francisco jail three months prior after local law enforcement refused to hand Zarate over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
If convicted on either federal charge, Zarate could face a maximum of 10 years in prison. But despite getting off scot-free for first- and second-degree murder, Zarate isn’t out of the woods in California either: he faces up to three years in jail for illegally possessing the firearm that killed Steinle.
After Zarate serves his sentence, he will be deported back to his native Mexico.
AAN Staff
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