Mexican man acquitted of San Francisco murder denied bail

FILE - This undated file booking photo provided by the San Francisco Police Department shows Jose Ines Garcia Zarate, a homeless undocumented immigrant acquitted of killing Kate Steinle on a San Francisco pier. He is scheduled to be sentenced on a lesser gun charge Friday, Jan. 5, 2018. (San Francisco Police Department via AP, File)AP

SAN FRANCISCO — The Mexican man acquitted of murder in a San Francisco case that prompted immigration debate has been denied release from jail pending trial on federal gun charges.

Jose Ines Garcia Zarate appeared in federal court Monday to face two illegal gun possession charges, which were filed after a San Francisco jury acquitted him of murder for the July 2015 fatal shooting of Kate Steinle. Garcia Zarate has been deported five times and has spent a combined 17 years in U.S. prisons for three illegal re-entry convictions before the shooting.

Garcia Zarate says he found the gun that killed Steinle under a seat on a San Francisco pier. He says it accidentally fired when he picked it up.

He was transferred from San Francisco jail to federal custody over the weekend.