The case against Jose Ines Garcia Zarate became a rallying cry for President Donald Trump during his campaign for the White House, as he pushed to halt illegal immigration and penalize so-called sanctuary cities, including San Francisco.
Zarate, who had been deported to Mexico five times since first entering the U.S. as a juvenile, said the July 1, 2015, shooting of Kate Steinle on a pier in San Francisco, was an accident.
The San Francisco jury, while acquitting him of murder and manslaughter charges, found him guilty of the lesser charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm, a San Francisco Chronicle reporter covering the case said on Twitter.
A spokeswoman for San Francisco Superior Court could not immediately be reached for comment on the verdict.
Public Defender Jeff Adachi, who represented Garcia Zarate, said his client was “extremely relieved” by the verdict, the Chronicle reported.
