Photo: Evidence seized during search warrants | Ventura County Sheriff’s Office
Written By: Robert L. McCullough
December 19, 2022 –It’s hard to imagine what the streets of many communities would be like absent the efforts of law enforcement to control the ebb and flow of firearms in the possession of convicted felons moving around freely while on parole.
There isn’t a felon or parolee in the State of California who isn’t keenly aware of the prohibition imposed upon them by their parole terms regarding the possession of firearms or ammunition. That makes the almost incidental December 14 th contact between patrol deputies and 39-year-old Camarillo resident Robert John Wilson particularly concerning.
According to Ventura County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sr. Deputy Dustin Heersche, Wilson was cruising down a Camarillo thoroughfare when he was pulled over for a routine Vehicle Code violation. When they made contact with him, Wilson “advised sheriff’s deputies he was in possession of a firearm concealed in his vehicle.” While they may have appreciated his candor, deputies nevertheless took him into custody on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance with a firearm and carrying a loaded firearm in a vehicle.
Once Wilson was handcuffed, deputies attached to the VCSD Special Enforcement Detail arrived at the scene and learned he was recently visited a local area motel room occupied by “an individual on active parole.” One thing quickly led to another, and SED deputies went to the motel room, conducted a search there and discovered a “p-80 ghost gun and a drum-style magazine containing approximately 50 nine-millimeter bullets.” A quick inspection of the ghost gun indicated that it was threaded for a silencer, possession of which is a felony.
A subsequent warrant search of Wilson’s residence led to the discovering of “stockpile of pistol and rifle ammunition” as well as a 37-millimeter projectile launcher” and a number of other illegal firearms.
Wilson was transported to Ventura County Jail, where he was charged with multiple firearms violations with his bail set at $60,000.
