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Defendant in Kathryn Steinle's Death Indicted on Federal Gun Charges

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Jose Ines Garcia Zarate (R) enters court for an arraignment with San Francisco public defender Jeff Adachi (L) on July 7, 2015, in San Francisco. (Michael Macor-Pool/Getty Images)

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate is now wanted in two federal districts following his acquittal on murder and manslaughter counts in San Francisco last week.

Garcia Zarate was charged with murder and related crimes for the death of Kathryn Steinle on San Francisco's waterfront in 2015. The case has drawn national attention since then-presidential candidate Donald Trump seized on Garcia Zarate's history of deportations and illegal re-entry in the U.S. to criticize so-called sanctuary cities like San Francisco. Garcia Zarate was released in San Francisco two months before Steinle's death despite a request from immigration authorities to turn him over for deportation.

A San Francisco jury found Garcia Zarate not guilty of murder and manslaughter charges -- appearing to agree with the defense argument that the ricochet shot that killed Steinle was an accidental discharge. The jury found Garcia Zarate guilty of being a felon in possession of a handgun, which was stolen from a U.S. Bureau of Land Management ranger's car four days before Steinle's death.

The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California announced an indictment of Garcia Zarate Tuesday evening, charging him with being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition and being an immigrant in the country illegally in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

He faces a maximum of 10 years in prison for each charge, according to the U.S. attorney's announcement.

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Shortly after his acquittal, a warrant seeking Garcia Zarate's arrest for violating conditions of his release from federal prison was unsealed in a Texas federal court.

Garcia Zarate is scheduled to be sentenced for his conviction in San Francisco next week. It's unclear when he will be taken into federal custody to answer the new charges.

Read the Northern California indictment below.

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