WICHITA, KAN. – A Mexican national unlawfully in the United States has been sentenced to 87 months in federal prison, to be followed by deportation, for selling guns, illegal drugs, and counterfeit documents, U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom said today.

Esteban Ochoa-Almendariz, 24, who lived in Wichita at the time of his arrest but is from Puebla, Mexico, received the sentence Monday in U.S. District Court here. He pleaded guilty to distribution of methamphetamine and making false documents. Ochoa-Almendariz was charged in April in a 13-count indictment alleging unlawful sale of drugs, guns and identification documents.

“Mr. Ochoa was a one-stop vendor of drugs, guns and false documents catering mainly to persons unlawfully in the United States,” Grissom said.

The indictment alleged that Ochoa-Almendariz sold a firearm in October 2009 during an investigation by the Kansas Bureau of Investigation in cooperation with Homeland Security Investigations. Agents didn’t encounter him again until the summer of 2010 when, over the course of three months, he allegedly sold guns, drugs and fraudulent documents to KBI undercover agents. He was arrested in the case in April 2011 after state and federal agents executed a search warrant at the defendant’s Wichita residence in which computers, document-making equipment and a firearm were recovered.

Grissom praised the KBI and Homeland Security Investigations for their investigation, he Wichita Police Department for their assistance, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Brent Anderson for the prosecution.

 

 

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