Gun-smuggling defendant gets 14 years

By Guillermo Contreras, gcontreras@express-news.net
Published 04:40 p.m., Thursday, January 5, 2012

A San Antonio man was sentenced Thursday to 14 years in prison for his role in a smuggling ring suspected of providing firearms to a drug gang in Mexico.

Court records said Edward Levar Davis, 32, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alia Moses in Del Rio, where Davis' case landed after federal agents traced several guns to him from people working on his behalf or that of an associate.

The documents said Davis and the associate, Marino Castro Jr., 26, were behind a shipment of 22 AK-47-style assault rifles and a .50-caliber Barrett sniper rifle that was intercepted by law officers in June 2010 near La Pryor.

The records also said Davis and Castro were linked to other assault rifles obtained by straw buyers or seized during an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Davis and Castro pleaded guilty in Del Rio to smuggling goods from the United States and being felons in possession of firearms.

Court records said several people, primarily from the San Antonio area, bought guns primarily under the direction of Castro, who admitted smuggling them to Mexico from his base in Eagle Pass. All have pleaded guilty.

At least 50 weapons are linked to Castro's group. Court records said Castro typically paid people $200 for buying each gun.

The court documents said investigators believed the guns went to the Zetas in Mexico.

Castro is scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 12 in Del Rio by Judge Moses.

He faces 10 years on the smuggling charge and another 10 years for the felon-in-possession count.

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