Guilty plea in gun case

Illegal immigrant smuggled weapons out of the area

By Monty Tayloe
The Winchester Star
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Winchester — A city man who allegedly smuggled guns from the Winchester area across the U.S. border to be sold in Mexico City, pleaded guilty in federal court Monday.

According to court documents, Braulio Cruz-Vasquez, a 28-year-old illegal immigrant from Puebla Pue, Mexico, sold four handguns and 88 rounds of ammunition to undercover federal agents, and purchased three handguns from them last fall and winter.

Following his December arrest, federal agents seized two handguns from a Frederick County storage unit rented by Cruz-Vasquez.

After striking a bargain with prosecutors, Cruz-Vasquez pleaded guilty Monday in U.S. District Court in Harrisonburg to one count of illegal transportation of firearms, which carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in jail and a possible $250,000 fine.

Because of his illegal status, it is against the law for Cruz-Vasquez to possess any firearm.

After serving his sentence, he will be remanded to the custody of Immigration and Customs Enforcement and deported back to his native Mexico.

According to court documents, Cruz-Vasquez was caught twice in 2002 by Border Patrol agents trying to cross into the U.S. and was sent back to Mexico each time. He told agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms that he had lived in the U.S. for 8 years.

During the ATF’s investigation, Cruz-Vasquez told undercover agents he was buying the guns to send to Mexico to be sold for a substantial profit.

According to court documents, he told the agents that his customers didn’t care where the guns were made, “they just want to kill each other.â€