Oakland man gets year in jail for federal gun case that started with Instagram post

OAKLAND — A 23-year-old Oakland man was sentenced to another three months in jail — on top of the nine he’s already been there — in a gun case stemming from the discovery of an AR-15 pistol in a car.

D’Marco Hal was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez-Rogers in a late June court hearing. Prosecutors noted Hal had several prior arrests as an adult, but asked for an unspecified “custodial sentence” in court records. Authorities linked Hal to an Oakland gang whose members have been prosecuted in several other gun cases over the past year.

Hal apologized in a letter to the court, writing that the months he spent in jail awaiting trial gave him clarity, and that “I’ve learned my lesson.”

“I have a G.E.D. and was sooooo proud of myself when I got it, but the messed up thing is I can’t do nothing with a G.E.D. in jail, those don’t matter in here,” Hal wrote. “I turn 23 years old in July and can’t even say I’ve been out of jail for a full year since I was 12. I haven’t had a place to call home since I was 10.”

Hal pleaded guilty to possessing a loaded AR-15 pistol that was found on the floor of a car Hal was a passenger in, according to court records. Prosecutors said his prior arrests include a 2016 incident where he and others drove through the front of an Apple Store in Palo Alto and stole $69,000 in merchandise. The following year, he arrested in a similar incident where a woman was struck by the car and hospitalized for weeks. Prosecutors said Hal wrote an apology letter to the victim but wouldn’t say who was driving the car.

The sentence will be followed by a three-year supervised release term.