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Eva Lucie Gutierrez, and Ignacio Villalobos. Columbus is a small border village across from the
Mexican city of Puerto Palomas. The indictment alleges that, between January 2010 and March
2011, the defendants engaged in a conspiracy to purchase firearms for illegal export to Mexico.
During this 14-month period, the defendants allegedly purchased approximately 200 firearms
from Chaparral Guns in Chaparral, N.M. that are favored by the Mexican Cartels, including AK-
47-type pistols, weapons resembling AK-47 rifles, and 9 mm pistols. The defendants allegedly
obtained firearms by falsely claiming they were the actual purchasers of the firearms, when they
were actually acting as “straw purchaser” and buying the firearms on behalf of others. During the
case, agents seized 40 AK-47 type pistols, 1,580 rounds of 7.62 ammunition and 30 high-capacity
magazines from the defendants before they crossed the U.S.-Mexico border. The indictment
alleges that 12 firearms previously purchased by the defendants later were found in Mexico and
were traced back to these defendants. Angelo Vega pleaded guilty on Aug. 25, 2011 to one count
of conspiracy to smuggle firearms, one count of smuggling goods from the United States and one
count of extortion. Several other defendants have also pleaded guilty to charges in the
indictment. Eddie Espinoza pleaded guilty on July 12, 2011 and was sentenced to 51 months in
prison on June 14, 2012. Alberto Rivera pleaded guilty on July 15, 2011 and was sentenced to 90
months in prison on Oct. 9, 2012. Miguel Carrillo pleaded guilty on July 19, 2011 and was
sentenced on Oct. 9, 2012 to 46 months in prison. Manuel Ortega pleaded guilty on July 20, 2011
and was sentenced to 70 months in prison on Oct. 9, 2012. Gabriela Gutierrez pleaded guilty on
April 4, 2012 and was sentenced on Oct. 9, 2012 to 24 months in prison. Ian Garland pleaded
guilty on July 21, 2011 and was sentenced to five years in prison on May 24, 2012. Vicente
Carreon pleaded guilty on July 22, 2011 and was sentenced on March 21, 2012 to 46 months in
prison. Eva Gutierrez pleaded guilty on July 15, 2011. Ricardo Gutierrez pleaded guilty on July
18, 2011. Blas Gutierrez pleaded guilty on Aug. 1, 2011. The investigation was conducted by
ATF, ICE and DEA.
• Firearms to Colombia -- On March 8, 2011, in the Southern District of Texas, Patrick Regan and
his Colombian-born wife, Ximena del Pilar Echeverry Arias were arrested on a criminal
complaint charging the couple with conspiracy, smuggling goods from the United States and
possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. In Dec. 2010, agents saw Regan and
Arias ship numerous boxes addressed to recipients in Colombia. An examination of those boxes
resulted in a determination that the name of the addressee was fictitious, the shipping address was
an abandoned residence in Colombia, the shipper’s name and address was fictitious and the
contents falsely described. The boxes contained 16 firearms and each had its serial number
obliterated. Agents intercepted two subsequent firearms shipments allegedly made by Regan to
Colombian addresses. Records obtained during the investigation showed Arias, while living in
Colombia, had allegedly signed for 12 of the 67 similarly suspicious packages addressed to her
home and wire transferred more than $39,000 from a bank in Colombia to Regan’s account in the
United States. At the time of the arrests, agents seized 50 lower and 13 upper receivers for AR-
15 style semi-automatic rifles, an unregistered fully assembled short-barrel AR-15 rifle, two
pieces of metal working machinery and 13 AR-15 style lower receivers. The Colombian National
Police arrested three individuals in Colombia and dismantled a workshop where firearms were
being assembled from the lower receivers Regan and Arias allegedly supplied and other essential
components. This investigation was conducted by ATF and ICE.
• Firearms and Ammunition to Mexico – On Feb. 11, 2011, Isaac Cervantes-Sanchez and Leonel
Richard Soto, were sentenced in the Southern District of Texas to 46 months in prison and 24
months in prison, respectively, for their roles in the straw purchasing firearms and ammunition
bound for Mexico. Cervantes-Sanchez was convicted of illegally exporting munitions, while
Soto was convicted of lying to buy two AK-47s for Cervantes-Sanchez. Both men pleaded guilty
to the offenses in December 2010. In August 2009, federal agents saw the defendants load
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