Angel Castillo-Martinez

Introduction

Angel Castillo-Martinez, 26, of Sioux City, Iowa, was sentenced on August 19, 2026, to more than twelve years in federal prison for illegally possessing firearms while on his way to carry out a revenge attack. United States District Court Judge Leonard T. Strand imposed the 151-month sentence in Sioux City, along with a three-year term of supervised release, after Castillo-Martinez pleaded guilty on March 18, 2026, to possession of a firearm by a felon. The sentencing announcement states he admitted carrying weapons to perpetrate a revenge attack — armed with a loaded handgun and a loaded AR-style rifle — before Sioux City police stopped the car he was riding in and he fled on foot.

Background Information

The case file places the conduct on June 5, 2025, when Castillo-Martinez obtained a ride from Winnebago, Nebraska, to Sioux City, Iowa, with the intent to “hurt a lot of people.” He was armed with a loaded handgun and a loaded rifle as he crossed into Iowa. Sioux City police officers saw Castillo-Martinez getting in and out of the vehicle abruptly and noticed the vehicle was being driven by a person with a suspended license, and a traffic stop ensued. His criminal history already included theft, possession of controlled substances, carrying a dangerous weapon, assault on a peace officer, and interference with official acts — the record that made simple gun possession a federal felony. The case was investigated by the Sioux City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Forde Fairchild under case number 25-4035, with the Justice Department listing it under its Operation Take Back America initiative.

The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation

Convicted and sentenced. Castillo-Martinez admitted the conduct through a guilty plea and was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison. The account below is from the Justice Department’s sentencing announcement.

When officers stopped the vehicle on June 5, 2025, Castillo-Martinez fled on foot through a residential neighborhood but was quickly apprehended by Sioux City police officers. He provided officers with a false name and date of birth. Officers retraced his path of flight and found he had attempted to hide a baggie containing more than 50 grams of methamphetamine. A search of the vehicle located a backpack on the passenger floorboard containing a loaded pistol, as well as a second backpack containing a loaded AR-style rifle with an obliterated serial number in the truck bed. Following his arrest, Castillo-Martinez admitted he was on his way to “hurt a lot of people” to seek revenge for an attack that happened to a friend two days prior — and, per the announcement, he later learned that the people he had targeted were innocent. The armed ride, the flight, the false identity, and the discarded methamphetamine all became part of the sentencing record that Judge Strand weighed alongside his priors.

Public Reaction and Consequences

The announcement draws its force from how close the recorded plan came to whatever it was going to be: a man with a loaded pistol and a loaded rifle rode ninety minutes from Nebraska into Sioux City specifically to hurt people he believed had attacked his friend. The mistaken-target realization is recorded in his own admission, not as mitigation offered by prosecutors. The sentence — twelve years and seven months, with three years of supervised release and no parole in the federal system — went into effect immediately, with Castillo-Martinez held in the United States Marshal’s custody until transport to a federal prison. The case carries the Justice Department’s Operation Take Back America framing, which ties local firearm prosecutions to its violent-crime reduction push.

Current Status

Castillo-Martinez is serving a 151-month federal sentence imposed August 19, 2026, in United States Marshal custody pending transport to a federal facility. Upon release he will owe a three-year term of supervised release. His guilty plea to possession of a firearm by a felon stands as a federal conviction under case number 25-4035, and the methamphetamine found along his flight path remains part of the sentencing record. No appeal is noted in the Justice Department announcement.

Impact on Their Career/Life

At 26, Castillo-Martinez begins a sentence that will hold him in federal prison into his late thirties, followed by supervised release. The felony conviction permanently prohibits him from possessing firearms and stacks a federal record on top of the state priors — theft, controlled-substance possession, carrying a dangerous weapon, and assault on a peace officer — that already shaped his life. The announcement records no statement from him about the innocent people he was riding toward, and no public defense of his conduct has been reported.

Sources

• Justice Department announcement of sentencing, U.S. Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Iowa, August 24, 2026: source