Judge gives 5 years to NM gun dealer who pleaded guilty to supplying a guns-to-Mexico ring

Washington Post - The dealer who supplied a border town smuggling ring that shipped nearly 200 guns to Mexican drug cartels was handed a five-year prison sentence Thursday along with a stern lecture. “It’s time to say ‘basta!, enough!,” federal judge Judge Robert Brack said to defendant Ian Garland. “There is a war in Mexico and the war machine requires fuel,” the judge said. “This conspiracy was happy to supply that fuel. What made my decision was that in this terrible supply chain, that link was you.” Gun dealer Ian Garland was the second of 14 people charged in the Columbus, N.M.-based conspiracy to be sentenced. All have pleaded guilty. Other defendants include former Columbus Police Chief Angelo Vega, former Mayor Eddie Espinoza and former trustee Blas Gutierrez. Mario Ortiz, Garland’s lawyer, pushed for a lesser sentence, saying that despite his guilty plea, Garland thought the guns were for Gutierrez, to whom he had sold guns in the past after performing mandatory background checks. Read More News New Mexico

Judge gives 5 years to NM gun dealer who pleaded guilty to supplying a guns-to-Mexico ring