The man allegedly behind viral Bay Area sideshow photo gets 2-year federal prison term

SAN FRANCISCO — The Hayward man behind an iconic 2021 sideshow photograph has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for possessing guns that police found during a raid of his residence, court records show.

Christopher Gonzalez-Nunez, 27, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín in late September, after pleading guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm. It is a fairly standard gun possession case, except for two things: Gonzalez-Nunez’s connection to a photograph that went viral on social media in 2021, and his association with a group of notorious gang members behind a series of murders.

Gonzalez-Nunez was charged last year, after police found three firearms in his Hayward residence during a June 2023 raid. Prosecutors say they also have evidence he was offering guns for sale on Instagram.

In 2021, Gonzalez-Nunez allegedly drove a car in a sideshow while his girlfriend hung out of the window with an miniature AK-47. An onlooker snapped a picture, which seemed to exemplify the lawlessness that is inherent to why some people love sideshows and others hate them. The photograph went viral on social media, but the identity of its subjects was a mystery until prosecutors brought the case against Gonzalez-Nunez in 2023.

Additionally, authorities say Gonzalez-Nunez associated himself with Norteño gang members who were responsible for murders around the area. These included Fernando Madrigal, a justice reform activist who appeared at an anti-gun violence demonstration alongside the mother of a man he’d killed before he was charged with the shooting.

But Gonzalez-Nunez has taken steps to improve his life, prosecutors conceded in a sentencing memo, praising his “maturation and development” since the indictment

“He has been gainfully employed as a tow truck operator. He has a young child,” the prosecution sentencing memo says, also lauding him for pleading guilty. The memo later adds, “And when the government took the risk of agreeing to a short-term release so that González could spend Christmas with his young child and family, there were no issues during his release or with his self-surrender.”