Cape Coral man sentenced to 8 years for illegal possession of firearms

A 23-year-old Cape Coral man was sentenced Friday to eight years in prison for illegal possession of firearms.

Jesus David Mendez was charged with three counts of possession of a firearm by a juvenile delinquent and one count of shooting inside a dwelling. He was sentenced to eight years for each, to be served concurrently.

The incidents happened in late 2020 and early 2021 in Cape Coral. In one case, Mendez was in a family member’s garage and fired a weapon at a wall during an argument. In the other two cases, he was caught in possession of a firearm. The Cape Coral Police Department investigated the cases and seized three firearms. In additional forensic weapons testing, Mendez’s DNA was positively identified.

As part of his sentence, Mendez must forfeit the firearms, pay court costs, pay for the cost of prosecution, and pay the Cape Coral Police Department $1,829.40 for the cost of their investigation.

WINK News previously reported that Mendez was involved in a car crash involving a stolen car in the Cape when he was 18. In that case, Mendez was found with a loaded revolver.