黑料福利社

A 26-year-old Wapato man was sentenced to slightly more than three years in federal prison for a 2025 drive-by shooting in Wapato.

Caludgrio Joseph Bianco was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court after pleading guilty in November to drive-by shooting and possessing a stolen firearm. His case was heard in federal court because he is a citizen of the Shoshone-Paiute Tribes and the shooting occurred on the Yakama Reservation, according to court documents.

In return for his guilty plea, prosecutors dropped charges of assault with a deadly weapon and discharging a firearm during a violent crime, with attorneys on both sides agreeing to a sentence within a three-to-10-year range.

Bianco, court documents said, drove past a home in the 500 block of Mount Adams Drive on March 15, 2025, and, on the third pass, fired two shots at the house, hitting near a picture window with one bullet piercing the wall and passing through two rooms and an interior wall before striking a sliding glass door.

Two people were in the front room when the shots were fired, the documents said. Wapato police collected two 9mm shell casing from the street, and security camera footage led to the identification of the suspect car and Bianco.

Bianco was booked into the Yakama Nation jail.

The U.S. Attorney鈥檚 Office recommended Bianco serve 10 years in prison, followed by three years on supervised release, noting inconsistencies with Bianco鈥檚 accounts of the incident to authorities. He went from saying he was forced to drive other people who did the shooting before finally admitting that he fired the shots because he was angry, Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Murphy wrote in his sentencing memorandum.

At Bianco鈥檚 girlfriend鈥檚 apartment, officers found a Glock Model 17 9mm pistol, two empty magazines and loose cartridges. The pistol had been reported stolen in Seattle, court documents said.

Bianco said he did not know the people who lived at the house he shot at, according to court documents.

But Murphy said the fact that Bianco concealed the gun at his girlfriend鈥檚 home was 鈥渕ore consistent with consciousness of guilt or harm caused than unintentional 鈥榖lowing off steam鈥�" by firing into the air.

鈥淓ven taking (the) defendant at his last word in his third law-enforcement interview that he merely fired randomly with no intention to cause harm, the fact that he put two bullets into an occupied home, one of which passed completely through the interior of the house, including a room occupied by two people, demonstrates an extraordinary degree of criminal recklessness,鈥� Murphy wrote.

A 10-year-sentence, Murphy said, reflects the danger Bianco created in the community, would deter Bianco and others, and allow Bianco to get additional education and vocational training that will help him stay out of trouble when he鈥檚 released.

Alex B. Hern谩ndez, Bianco鈥檚 attorney, said a three-year sentence would be the more appropriate punishment. He said that other defendants with a similar level of criminal charge averaged 21 months in prison.

Bianco, Hern谩ndez argued in his sentencing memorandum, had 鈥渁 very turbulent and violent childhood,鈥� and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder, anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.

鈥淵et despite these obstacles, Mr. Bianco did not engage in significant criminal activity; he graduated from high school and maintained employment,鈥� he wrote. Bianco is remorseful for what he has done, and he understands the importance of staying on his medications and in counseling, Hern谩ndez said.

In addition to sentencing Bianco to three years and four months, Chief Judge Stanley Bastian also recommended that Bianco serve his time in the federal prison in Sheridan, Ore., to make it easier for his family to see him.