A squatter, a shotgun and stolen items: How one man overstayed his welcome in Yosemite

A man squatting in Yosemite National Park was sentenced to more than five years and three months in prison on Monday for breaking into a private residence and possessing a sawed-off shotgun and ammunition, according to the U.S. attorney’s office in Sacramento.

Devin Michael Cuellar, 29, broke into the home on Koon Hollar Road in Wawona in 2021 and resided there for several months without permission from the owner, damaging and stealing property, according to federal prosecutors. Cuellar was previously convicted of carjacking and possessing controlled substances for sale and was prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

He is also a longtime gang member who is known to use narcotics such as heroin, prosecutors said.

Cuellar, who had already been jailed for 11 months, asked to be sentenced to time served with 60 months’ probation and in-patient treatment for his drug abuse, according to a sentencing memo. But prosecutors requested a term of 63 months, noting he had received lenient sentences in the past but still “led his life from one bad decision to another.”

The National Park Service was assisted in its investigation by the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, the California Department of Justice’s Bureau of Forensic Services and the Madera County Sheriff’s Office.