SFPD says Instagram screen grabs prove Oakland man possessed 21 guns before arrest on federal charges

Dylan Zirpolo, 29, was arrested after an investigation into his Instagram account, @Deehammy, police say.

SAN FRANCISCO — A Bay Area man was sentenced to four years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in a case where San Francisco police uncovered evidence of suspected firearm dealing from his Instagram account, court records show.

Dylan Zirpolo, 29, of Oakland, pleaded guilty last July to being a felon in possession of a firearm, and prosecutors consequently dropped an illegal firearm sales charge against him. He was sentenced in late October by U.S. District Judge Jon Tigar and moved to the Bureau of Prisons system last month.

Zirpolo was arrested in May 2021 in Oakland, after a 911 caller reported seeing a suspected “male pimp and female prostitute” parked in a BMW in an alleyway, prosecutors said in court records. Responding officers found a pistol in his car, and four days later searched his home and found numerous firearm parts and two empty magazines.

But it was a San Francisco police investigation that led to the firearms dealing charges. Starting in September 2020, a detective followed Zirpolo’s Instagram, “Deehammy,” and logged 21 different incidents where he posted pictures of firearms or of himself holding guns. Some of the pictures included captions encouraging people to “let me know,” or “hit my line,” which police interpreted as a sign the guns were for sale.

In 2020, Zirpolo was convicted of threatening a domestic partner in a criminal case that stemmed from what prosecutors described as an “hour-long assault” where he punched, kicked, and struck a woman with his car. He also has a 2015 conviction for attempted pimping and was not allowed to possess guns.

Zirpolo’s lawyer, Shaffy Moeel, asked for a 30-month sentence, arguing that this arrest was a wake up call for Zirpolo to deal with issues related to his upbringing, mental health and substance abuse.

“Mr. Zirpolo has deep remorse for his actions, not just in this case but in every bad decision that has landed him here. He has learned to self-reflect on his life and the behaviors and choices that have brought him before this court,” Moeel wrote. “He has learned the hard way, having had plenty of time to think during these last 14 months in continuous pre-trial detention at Santa Rita Jail served during the hardships of the pandemic, about what kind of man he is and what kind of man he wants to be.”

Zirpolo is set to be released in 2024, according to federal prison records.