December 19, 2016
BY AMY RENEE LEIKER

A woman on Monday was sentenced to 15 months in jail for unlawfully possessing a firearm connected to the killing of a 17-year-old Salina girl in May 2015. Azucena Garcia-Ferniza, 22, of Mexico, has already served the jail term, which began at the time of her arrest, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall said.

She’s now facing deportation, he said.

Beall said Garcia-Ferniza tried to hide the gun her boyfriend, 23-year-old Macio D. Palacio Jr., used to fatally shoot Allie Saum on May 6, 2015. Palacio fired at a pickup truck Saum was in after mistakenly believing it held rival gang members.

He was convicted of her murder in Saline County District Court and sentenced in July to more than 50 years in prison, according to Kansas Department of Corrections records.

Garcia-Ferniza was convicted in Saline County District Court in connection with the killing and received 18 months probation. But she also faced federal charges of unlawfully possessing the Glock .45-caliber pistol because she was in the United States illegally.

Her visitor’s visa expired in February of 1998. Beall said she will be placed in Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody for deportation.

http://www.kansas.com/news/local/cri...121809458.html