U.S. Army National Guardsmen ​tried to sell guns, ammo to cartel

First on CNN: Feds say national guardsmen ​tried to sell guns, ammo to cartels

By Evan Perez and Wesley Bruer, CNN
Updated 8:35 PM ET, Wed April 15, 2015

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Police: National Guardsmen try to sell guns, ammo to cartels 01:15

Washington (CNN)Two active members of the U.S. Army National Guard were arrested in San Diego, California, on Friday for allegedly trying to sell guns, military ammunition and body armor to purported Mexican drug cartel members, law enforcement officials briefed on the federal probe said.

Jaime Casillas and Andrew Reyes allegedly ​were caught in a sting operation run by agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, according to an official briefed on the probe. The men made more than dozen sales of firearms, including AR-15 rifles, and stolen military ammunition, to confidential informants working with the ATF, the official said.

READ: The entire federal complaint

The men were told by the informants that the arsenal would be shipped to Mexico to drug cartels, according to the official. Casillas and Reyes wore their Army combat uniforms during at least some of the sales, the official said.

Among the sales: at least 10 firearms, including AR-15 style rifles, more than 4,000 rounds of military ammunition in sealed crates stolen from the military, 190 high-capacity, military-style magazines still in sealed packages also stolen from the Army and 24 military-grade body armor vests.

The men are expected to be in federal court Thursday where they are facing possible charges of unlicensed firearms dealing and unlawfully transporting firearms bought out of state.

http://www.cnn.com/2015/04/15/politi...-ammo-cartels/

Feds: Army reservists sold military guns

Prosecutors say men tried to sell weaponry to agent posing as drug cartel operative

By Kristina Davis
6:25 P.M.APRIL 15, 2015 Updated 6:50 P.M.

Two East County U.S. Army reservists were arrested Wednesday, accused of selling a cache of military firearms for thousands of dollars to an undercover agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel operative.

Jaime Casillas and Andrew Reyes were arrested after search warrants were served at their homes in El Cajon and La Mesa, according to federal authorities.

Reyes is accused of traveling several times to Texas to obtain numerous weapons, including assault rifles, magazines and ballistic plates for protective vests, which he then sold in San Diego.

The alleged scheme began in August, when an undercover agent working with a U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force met with Casillas, who boasted of his ability to acquire firearms, body armor and ammunition for sale, according to an affidavit filed by an agent with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco and Explosives. The agent told Casillas he was working to procure weaponry for drug traffickers in Mexico.

Soon after, Casillas sold the supposed cartel man 1,600 rounds of .223-caliber ammunition — later identified as U.S. military inventory — for $700, the affidavit states.
In a second buy, Casillas sold the agent a .40-caliber pistol for $800 from his El Cajon mobile home, saying the gun had already been used to “do a job” in Tijuana, the document says.

About a month later, Reyes sold the agent an AK-47 for $1,700, authorities say.

Several similar firearms sales followed over the next several months, including an AR-15 with a fake serial number, an expensive AR-15 with a mounted scope, hundreds of AR-15 ammunition magazines, and a .45 caliber pistol described as “hot,” meaning it had been used in a crime or was stolen. In December, Reyes sold the agent 20 ceramic trauma (bullet-resistant) plates that are inserted into ballistic vests for $2,000, telling the agent that the gear was from the military, court records say.

A tracking device hidden under Reyes’ vehicle mapped his drives to and from Texas, authorities said.

In one of the last transactions, Reyes text messaged the agent a short video of him firing an AR-15 with a scope at what appeared to be an outdoor shooting range, saying he wanted to make sure it “fired smoothly” because it was “just built,” the affidavit says.

On March 16, both Casillas, dressed in an Army camouflage uniform, and Reyes, wearing Army gym clothing, met with the purported cartel man to sell that gun for $2,150.

The last deal was for a $15,000 .50-caliber rifle, but that sale never completed, authorities said. In all, they are accused of selling seven rifles, a pistol and the plates, ammunition and magazines, for a total of $6,050, according to the complaint.

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MILITARY HARDWARE ALLEGEDLY SOLD IN PLOT

• Seven rifles (Five AR-15 rifles, one AK-47 rifle, one SKS rifle)
• .40 caliber pistol
• 20 protective inserts for ballistic vests
• 1,600 rounds .223 caliber ammunition
• Four .223 caliber rifle magazines
• 150 .223 caliber rifle magazines
• Two ballistic vests/plates
• Dozen other rifle magazines

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After their arrests Wednesday, Casillas admitted selling weaponry but said he merely coordinated the sales for Reyes and did not personally profit from the business, the affidavit says.

Both are expected to appear in San Diego federal court Thursday on charges related to dealing and transporting firearms without a license.

San Diego has been no stranger to such schemes.

In 2011, a former sailor got 30 months in prison for stealing then selling $170,000 worth of military equipment, some considered highly sensitive, while stationed at Coronado Naval Amphibious Base.

Phillip Jamison, who worked in the armory, loaded up his backpack with the stolen gear, such as night-vision and tactical equipment, and walked off the base on a weekly basis. He sold about 280 items over the course of a year, often on eBay. Some was sold to customers in Hong Kong, prosecutors said.

Also, former Coronado-based Navy SEAL Nicholas Bickle was sentenced to 17½ years in 2012 after being found guilty of smuggling machine guns home from Iraq and then giving them and other weapons to friends to sell on the street. He smuggled as many as 100 guns in a footlocker with a false bottom, prosecutors said during the trial in Nevada. In his storage unit in San Diego, alongside the footlocker, authorities found 3,000 rounds of military ammunition, pieces of detonating equipment and two handguns originally intended for use by Iraqi police forces.

He argued to a federal appeals court that his service-related Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder gave him diminished mental capacity, but the court said nothing in his military record confirmed that and found he had carefully planned his crimes, according to court documents.

In another case, two civilian defense contractors who worked at Camp Pendleton are still awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty in 2013 to conspiring to steal more than $3 million worth of medical equipment. They admitted stealing and reselling medical equipment that was supposed to be shipped overseas to be used on wounded Marines. A third defendant was sentenced to six months in custody.

http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2015/...n-sale-scheme/

National Guard Soldiers Sold Military-Style Assault Rifles to Undercover Agent

The two men worked with the armory in El Cajon and thought they were selling firearms to a member of a Mexican drug cartel, according to federal prosecutors

By R. Stickney

Two members of the California Army National Guard admitted to selling military-style assault rifles to an uncover agent who was pretending to be a member of a Mexican drug cartel.

Jaime Casillas, 22, of El Cajon and Andrew Reyes, 34, of La Mesa worked at the Army National Guard Armory in El Cajon.

The two men entered a plea agreement in federal court Thursday, admitting they sold firearms twice to an undercover agent with the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives.

According to the plea agreement, Reyes sold an AK-47 rifle and two AR-15 rifles in 2014 and another AR-15 rifle in March 2015 knowing the guns were headed to Mexico.

According to his plea agreement, Casillas sold a .40-caliber pistol and an AR-15 rifle at two different meetings in 2014. He also admitted that he believed the guns were going to Mexico.

Investigators said during one transaction, the men allegedly showed up in Army uniforms and collected $2,150 from the agent for an AR-15 rifle.

Both men pleaded guilty to one count of dealing firearms without a license. Reyes also pleaded guilty to three counts of unlicensed transportation of firearms in connection with his travel to Texas to purchase assault weapons which were transported to California and sold here.

The undercover ATF agent engaged in a fourth-month sting leading to arrests in April 2015.

Staff Sgt. Andrew Reyes, enlisted with the California Army National Guard in 2008 after serving in the Marine Corps.

Specialist Jaime Casillas enlisted in 2011.

The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on April 15 before U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz.

Published 48 minutes ago

Source: http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/loca...#ixzz3xLQa3yx7

Prosecute to the fullest extent law allows!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by MW

Prosecute to the fullest extent law allows!

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They already plead guilty.
The only thing left is the sentencing.

"The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced on April 15 before U.S. District Judge M. James Lorenz."

Quote:

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Jaime Casillas and Andrew Reyes

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Agents for the drug cartels infiltrating the US National Guard!

W