Texas Border City Pawnshop Owner Pleads Guilty to Selling Ammo to Cartel Purchaser

The owner of a Texas border city pawnshop pleaded guilty to selling thousands of ammunition rounds to individuals in the country illegally.

On Thursday afternoon, 67-year-old Daniel Gallegos, owner of Danny’s Pawn and Sporting Goods and also a part owner of Point Blank, went before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Hinojosa in McAllen. Gallegos pleaded guilty to one count of providing ammunition to a prohibited person. Hinojosa is expected to sentence Gallegos on October 18, at that time, the local businessman faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Gallegos admitted to selling approximately 280 rounds of .50 BMG caliber ammunition plus more than 5,000 rounds of various sizes, ranging from .223 caliber to .50 caliber to an individual that was in the country illegally. Authorities were able to confirm four separate sales in 2021. Prosecutors claim Gallegos knew the person placing the ammunition orders was in the country illegally. At the time that the sales took place, ammunition was very scarce and overpriced due to pandemic shutdowns.

Mexico’s Gulf Cartel routinely sends teams to make large-scale purchases of ammunition to be smuggled south. While court documents in the Gallegos case do not identify a criminal organization behind the purchase, the Gulf Cartel is the dominant organization south of McAllen. In one case in 2018, a Mexican national with legal permanent residency went to a gun store in McAllen to purchase 5,000 rounds. Authorities were able to stop the man and seize the ammunition.

Ildefonso Ortiz is an award-winning journalist with Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Brandon Darby and senior Breitbart management. You can follow him on Twitter and on Facebook. He can be contacted at Iortiz@breitbart.com. 

Brandon Darby is the managing director and editor-in-chief of Breitbart Texas. He co-founded Breitbart Texas’ Cartel Chronicles project with Ildefonso Ortiz and senior Breitbart management. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook. He can be contacted at bdarby@breitbart.com.