A man accused of committing a mass shooting at a Houston club last year has pleaded guilty to a federal ammunition violation in a case that once tenuously tied him to a notorious Venezuelan gang.
Jose Miguel Briceno, 26, on Tuesday pleaded guilty to unlawfully possessing .40-caliber ammunition.
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Briceno is originally from Venezuela. He has been in the United States without permission since 2023 and was scheduled for a deportation hearing prior to his arrest.
Briceno was arrested and charged on March 25, 2025 in connection with a mass shooting at Latinas Sports Bar, a nightclub in the 6400 block of Hillcroft. He was accused of wounding six people as he shot the gun into the club.
Police described the shooting as targeted, but have not said more about who Briceno was accused of aiming at. Briceno, who has been in custody since his arrest, allegedly admitted to the shooting after he was arrested. During an interview with police, he claimed to have fired on the club while his eyes were closed.
In July, Briceno was separately accused of illegal possession of ammunition by an alien, a federal misdemeanor, according to court records. A month later, he was indicted under a slightly different charge, this time accusing him of illegally possessing ammunition because he had previously been convicted of domestic violence.
He pleaded guilty to the latter charge on Tuesday.
Justice Department’s Anti-Tren gang claims
In announcements about Briceno’s charges, the Justice Department tied him to a group of men who were charged with entirely different crimes. Aside from Briceno, the other 15 men – all of whom are from Central and South America – were arrested in connection with investigations into drug trafficking and illegal gun sales.
The men allegedly agreed to transport cocaine across Houston, and were arrested when they met with undercover federal agents who had arranged the deal.
However, the government claimed the men were all members of Anti-Tren, a gang made up of former members of the Tren de Aragua gang that now allegedly acts as a competing criminal organization. Authorities claimed the men were part of a “turf war” between Tren and Anti-Tren and had committed numerous violent crimes.
In detention hearings last year, however, prosecutors presented no information about the gang or its operations, and instead focused on the events of the day of the drug stings. The Justice Department made no other claims about the men’s gang affiliations in seven plea deals reached since the announcement of the indictment.
One defense attorney representing another of the alleged Anti-Tren members said prosecutors had “moved on” from the gang issue. Briceno’s lawyer said the allegations about his Anti-Tren affiliation didn’t affect the plea deal he reached with the prosecutors.
Briceno faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison on the ammunition charge. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend a lower sentence to U.S. District Judge Lee Rosenthal, if the judge finds that Briceno has taken responsibility for his crime. Rosenthal will deliver a sentence later this year.
Briceno is still facing an aggravated assault mass shooting charge in Harris County over the club shooting. If convicted in that case, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
This article originally published at Suspect in Houston nightclub mass shooting pleads guilty in federal ammunition case.