Thread: Texan Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Guns Tied to Shooting Death

Texan Pleads Guilty to Smuggling Guns Tied to Shooting Death of U.S. Immigration Agent in Mexico

Published November 03, 2011
The Wall Street Journal

DALLAS – A member of a gun-smuggling ring linked to the shooting death of a U.S. immigration agent in Mexico pleaded guilty here Thursday to federal charges involving the illegal purchase of firearms.

The plea comes at a time when some Republicans in Congress are raising concerns that the agents in charge of the case in Texas might have intentionally allowed suspected smugglers to acquire guns, as other federal agents did in two operations in Arizona. In one Arizona sting, known as Fast and Furious, federal investigators lost track of some guns that were then used to commit crimes in the U.S. and Mexico.

In the Texas case, 28-year-old Ranferi Osorio of Lancaster, Texas, told a federal magistrate judge that he conspired with a crew of seven other men to buy guns in violation of federal firearm-reporting laws. He also admitted to possessing weapons with scratched-out serial numbers.

His brother Otilio, who is set to plead guilty to the same charges next week, bought the Romarm-Cugir Draco 7.62 pistol that Mexican drug-cartel members used in a February ambush that killed Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, on a highway between Mexico City and Monterrey.

A spokesman for the Dallas office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which conducted the Osorio investigation, declined to comment on the case because it is still open. In the past, the head of the office has said that his agents didn't intentionally allow any weapons to cross the border.

Events in the Osorio case took place in 2010 and early this year.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/11/03/te ... z1chUIa5VU

Texan Guilty in Disputed Gun Probe

November 4, 2011

By ANA CAMPOY

DALLAS—A member of a gun-smuggling ring linked to the shooting death of a U.S. immigration agent in Mexico pleaded guilty here Thursday to federal charges involving the illegal purchase of firearms.

The plea comes at a time when some Republicans in Congress are raising concerns that the agents in charge of the case in Texas might have intentionally allowed suspected smugglers to acquire guns, as other federal agents did in two operations in Arizona. In one Arizona sting, known as Fast and Furious, federal investigators lost track of some guns that were then used to commit crimes in the U.S. and Mexico.

In the Texas case, 28-year-old Ranferi Osorio of Lancaster, Texas, told a federal magistrate judge that he conspired with a crew of seven other men to buy guns in violation of federal firearm-reporting laws. He also admitted to possessing weapons with scratched-out serial numbers.

His brother Otilio, who is set to plead guilty to the same charges next week, bought the Romarm-Cugir Draco 7.62 pistol that Mexican drug-cartel members used in a February ambush that killed Jaime Zapata, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement officer, on a highway between Mexico City and Monterrey.

A spokesman for the Dallas office of the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which conducted the Osorio investigation, declined to comment on the case because it is still open. In the past, the head of the office has said that his agents didn't intentionally allow any weapons to cross the border.

Events in the Osorio case took place in 2010 and early this year.

Starting in the summer of 2010, the Osorios' ring bought guns from vendors, lying that the firearms were for personal use, according to court documents in the case.

In November, an ATF confidential informant arranged to receive guns for an alleged criminal organization that the U.S. was investigating, apparently a Mexican cartel, according to an affidavit by an ATF special agent. It was the Osorio brothers who delivered duffel bags containing 40 weapons to the informant, including many firearms that no longer had serial numbers, according to the agent's affidavit.

The guns were later intercepted at the border, but the Osorios weren't arrested until February 2011, a few days after Mr. Zapata was murdered. It isn't clear whether the gun used to kill him, purchased by Otilio Osorio in October 2010, was smuggled into Mexico before or after the ATF started its investigation of the brothers.

Last week, Sen. John Cornyn (R., Texas) called for a formal probe into the ATF's handling of the case, while Sen. Charles Grassley (R., Iowa) and Rep. Darrell Issa (R., Calif.), in a letter to the Justice Department, demanded to know why the Osorios weren't arrested when agents first became aware of their illegal gun dealing. The lawmakers said they have been pressing for more information on the investigation since March.

"Rather than providing clear answers and information, the Justice Department continues to play games in an apparent effort to conceal the full truth about what happened," Mr. Issa said Wednesday.

The Department of Justice declined to comment. In an October letter to Mr. Grassley, Assistant Attorney General Ronald Weich said the agency couldn't answer questions about a continuing investigation.

Mr. Osorio, who is in custody, faces a sentence of up to 15 years. Three other members of the gang also pleaded guilty this week; the other four are scheduled to appear in court later this month.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142 ... 16890.html