TWO SENTENCED TO FEDERAL PRISON
FOR FIREARMS SMUGGLING
Gulfport, Miss. - Jose Luis Santos-Garcia, 44, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, and Javier Molina, 19, of Greensboro, North Carolina, were each sentenced in U.S. District Court this week on firearms smuggling charges, announced U.S. Attorney Gregory K. Davis and Raymond R. Parmer, Special Agent in Charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in New Orleans.
Santos-Garcia was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for attempted exportation of arms and munitions to Mexico. He was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine. Javier Molina was sentenced to 50 months in federal prison followed by three years of supervised release for his role in the attempted exportation of arms and munitions to Mexico. He was also ordered to pay a $3000 fine.
Santos-Garcia, a legal permanent resident of the United States and citizen of Mexico, was stopped on I-10 westbound in Jackson County, Mississippi, on August 31, 2011, with 2 concealed handguns and 3 flak jackets. On November 1, 2011, Molina, a U.S. citizen, was stopped westbound on I-10 in Jackson County, with 8 pistols, 9 rifles, 5 shotguns, 16 magazines, 6 gun stocks, 5 shotgun barrels, 2 scopes and 902 rounds of ammunition.
“Stopping the flow of weapons into Mexico is a key priority for HSI and our partners,” said Raymond R. Parmer Jr., special agent in charge of HSI New Orleans. “These defendants were seeking to add to the bloodshed in Mexico by unlawfully smuggling weapons there for their personal enrichment. Thanks to HSI, the Jackson County Interdiction Team and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Mississippi their criminal activity was stopped and both defendants will serve lengthy sentences in a federal penitentiary.” Parmer oversees HSI activities in Mississippi, Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee.
This case was investigated by ICE HSI and the Jackson County Criminal Interdiction Team. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Annette Williams.
