A U.S. Army Sergeant has pleaded guilty to having bought dozens of assault rifles on behalf of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.
This week, Julian Prezas, an active duty U.S. Army recruiter, went before U.S. Chief District Judge Orlando Garcia where he pleaded guilty to his role as part of a large scale weapons purchasing and smuggling operation aimed at helping Mexico’s Gulf Cartel.
Court documents obtained by Breitbart Texas revealed that Prezas, along with Thomas Zamudio, Ricardo Esparza, and Christopher Brown have all been named as co-conspirators in the case. Prezas is listed as the lead defendant.
The criminal indictment revealed that Prezas is believed to have purchased at least 42 assault rifles including AR-15s and AK-47s. While the commercially available versions of those rifles are semi-automatic, the charges mention aiding and abetting drug trafficking with automatic rifles.
Prezas’ role in the purchasing of weapons was initially reported by the San Antonio Express News. According to the Texas publication, when Prezas pleaded guilty, authorities mentioned that the man had filed serial numbers off the weapons.
As Breitbart Texas has reported in the past, Mexico’s Gulf Cartel has been able to recruit active duty military personnel to help them smuggle illegal immigrants past U.S. Border Patrol security checkpoints 80 miles north of the border with Mexico.
U.S. Army Sgt buying Gulf Cartel Guns by ildefonso ortiz on Scribd
Ildefonso Ortiz is an award winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded the Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and Stephen K. Bannon. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook.
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.