Domestic violence offender sentenced to four years in prison

News Release from USDoJ, Nov 3, 2020

HONOLULU, Hawaii – District Judge Leslie E. Kobayashi sentenced David Benjamin Cordeiro, 38, of Mountain View, Hawaii, today for one count of possession of ammunition after having been previously convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(9). Cordeiro will serve four years imprisonment, with three years of supervised release to follow.

U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price for the District of Hawaii stated that according to court documents and information presented in court, on September 1, 2018, Cordeiro fired approximately nine bullets into a stopped car, in which two females, including his girlfriend, were seated. One bullet pierced the windshield of the car, causing his girlfriend to believe she had been struck by a bullet. Cordeiro had multiple prior convictions for domestic violence and abuse of family members under Hawaii law. Accordingly, federal law prohibited Cordeiro from possessing firearms or ammunition.

As presented in court, Cordeiro’s prior convictions under state law included an incident wherein he physically assaulted and threw gasoline on a prior intimate partner; an incident in which he burned a female victim with the hot metal tip of a butane torch; and two separate incidents wherein he violently struck women while they held his infant child. All of these incidents involved different female victims.

In light of his criminal history and characteristics, Judge Kobayashi imposed an upward variance at sentencing, meaning a sentence higher than Cordeiro’s calculated guidelines range under the United States Sentencing Guidelines.  “In cases like this one, a firearm or ammunition in the hands of someone convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence is a federal crime and recipe for disaster. We will vigorously investigate and prosecute those who choose to endanger our communities by unlawfully possessing guns or ammunition,” stated U.S. Attorney Price.

The case was investigated by the Hawaii County Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, and Firearms. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Morgan Early.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhood, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.