Mexican National Pleads Guilty to Illegal Firearm Used in Drive-By Shooting

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican national has pleaded guilty in federal court to illegally possessing the firearm he used in a drive-by shooting.

Javier Guerrero-Garcia, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough on Monday, June 29, to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm.

By pleading guilty, Guerrero-Garcia admitted that he fired a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun into a residence early in the morning of Nov. 19, 2017.

According to the plea agreement, a Kansas City, Missouri, resident contacted police officers after Guerrero-Garcia fired multiple shots at her house at approximately 3:45 a.m. on Nov. 19, 2017. When the resident went outside she saw Guerrero-Garica’s red BMW driving away. Shortly thereafter, Guerrero-Garcia returned and fired more shots at her home and vehicles. Police officers arrived at the scene and learned that bullets had entered the home and three vehicles had been struck by bullets.

About an hour later, Kansas City police officers conducted a traffic stop of the red BMW Guerrero-Garcia was driving. When he and two passengers got out of the vehicle, officers saw the Glock handgun as well as an extended magazine inside the vehicle. The handgun had been reported as stolen.

A forensic examination was performed on the .40-caliber shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting and the Glock handgun recovered from the vehicle. This examination confirmed the .40-caliber shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting were fired from the Glock handgun.

Guerrero-Garcia has a prior federal conviction in Kansas for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, for which he was sentenced in 2018 to 14 months in prison.

Under federal statutes, Guerrero-Garcia is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Kate Butterfield. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department and Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Project Safe Neighborhoods
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.