Federal prosecutors in Laredo secured convictions against two illegal aliens who built and sold machine guns and cocaine in the border city. One of the men pleaded guilty earlier this year, while the second one went to trial this week. Jurors found him guilty of all counts.
After a short deliberation, a federal jury in Laredo found 33-year-old Carlos Alberto Garcia Guajardo guilty on 12 charges relating to selling and possessing machine guns previously filed against him in a federal indictment. He is set to be sentenced next year and could be facing a sentence ranging from 30 years to life in prison.
The case began in December 2024, when Laredo Police officers and agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives worked on an undercover case where they bought a Glock pistol that had been fitted with a switch that turned it into a fully-automatic weapon. Court documents filed in the case revealed that agents were talking with Fernando Patino Jr., a man described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas as an illegal alien from Mexico who is not legally allowed to possess firearms.
In January 2024, Patino introduced the undercover agent to Garcia Guajardo, who said the gun was ready and provided the handgun to the agents for $1,100. Days later, authorities purchased a second Glock with a switch for $1,200.
Soon after, agents coordinated additional handgun purchases for a total of ten Glocks with switches and various quantities of cocaine. According to federal prosecutors, when authorities raided a house used by the men, they found several weapons, drugs, and scales.
In court documents, authorities revealed that both Garcia Guajardo and Patino were in the country illegally and are not able to possess any firearms legally. Additionally, the two men did not have any of the federal documents needed to build or possess machine guns or automatic weapons. ATF agents claimed that the switch that the men installed had turned the Glock pistols from semi-automatic weapons into machine guns.
Patino previously pleaded guilty to the charges and is expected to face a lesser sentence during his hearing next year.
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart News Foundation. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart News Foundation’s Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at [email protected].
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