SANTA CLARA — Last October, federal authorities were monitoring an Instagram account when they found a short video, known as a “story,” depicting a man using a grinder power tool to obliterate the serial number of a semi-automatic pistol.
“On the 40, he said f— it,” the cameraman reportedly said on film, referring to the .40 caliber pistol in the video.
The video doesn’t depict the face of the man grinding off the gun’s serial number. But prosecutors believe they’ve identified the man in the video based on his tattoos, and have charged him with a federal offense that carries a maximum of 15 years behind bars.
Miguel Ochoa-Avalos,