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Federal agents arrested three Southern California men Wednesday on suspicion of illegally purchasing more than 120 guns in Utah and reselling them in California, prosecutors said.
Manuel Ivan Sanchez, 37, of Helendale, Ricardo Amezcua, 45, of Southgate, and Fernando Nava, 35, of Hemet, each face one count, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He is charged with conspiracy.
Prosecutors say they took multiple short trips to Utah, lied on federal documents and used fraudulent identification to purchase weapons, which they then brought back to California and illegally resold. did.
Martin Estrada, U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California, said these black market firearms are often involved in violent crimes.
“To protect our communities, it is essential that we aggressively prosecute those who endanger all of us by illegally trafficking firearms,” he said.
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According to a statement from the Department of Justice, Sanchez, Amezcua and Nava repeatedly purchased 42 pistols and rifles from licensed firearms dealers in Utah between November 2022 and July 2024. He is suspected of visiting Utah.
Utah law prohibits gun dealers from selling to California residents, so the suspects lied on federal forms and provided illegal identification, prosecutors said.
“Each defendant obtained either a Utah driver’s license or an identification card with a Utah address,” the statement said. “They then used these fraudulently obtained cards to purchase guns from a licensed firearms dealer based in Utah.”
Sanchez is also suspected of purchasing an additional 81 guns in 2023 through an “unofficial online gun exchange based in Utah.”
“Mr. Sanchez then advertised the firearms he purchased at inflated prices for sale to others,” the Justice Department statement said. “In some cases, Sanchez advertised guns to intermediaries who also sold guns to other people. During the investigation, it was determined that Sanchez, Amezcua, and Nava had licenses to sell firearms. That never happened.”
If convicted as charged, each defendant could face up to five years in federal prison.
The incident was investigated by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This article originally appeared in the Victorville Daily Press: Three Southern California men charged with trafficking guns from Utah
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