United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal grand jury returned an indictment today against Robert Charles Crist, 56, of Vacaville, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and manufacturing a controlled substance, U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert and Drug Enforcement Administration Acting Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced.

According to court documents, on Sept. 20, 2022, law enforcement officers executed a search warrant at Crist’s home and found a lab he used to manufacture N,N‑Dimethyltryptamine, or “DMT,” a Schedule I controlled substance. Crist traveled to Hawaii to obtain plant materials for manufacturing DMT, which he mailed back to California in order to turn the plant materials into a crystalline controlled substance. Officers also found Crist in possession of a firearm. Crist is prohibited from possessing firearms because he has five prior felony convictions.

This case is the product of an investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service; and the Solano County Sheriff’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Sauvageau is prosecuting the case.

If convicted, Crist faces a maximum statutory penalty of 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on the firearm count and a maximum of 20 years in prison if convicted for the manufacturing of a controlled substance count. Any sentence, however, would be determined at the discretion of the court after considering any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables. The charges are only allegations; the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.