Mexican Gun Traffickers Busted In McAllen Sent To Prison

A federal judge sent two illegal immigrants to prison for their roles in a gun trafficking ring busted on the city’s northwest side.

Authorities recovered five assault rifles and a pistol from four illegal immigrants at 3512 Violet Ave. in February 2011.

A Texas Department of Public Safety investigator had received information that the house was possibly used by illegal immigrants smuggling guns to Mexican drug cartels, this a criminal complaint states.

Authorities recovered three .308-caliber rifles with obliterated serial numbers, a Glock 9 mm pistol and two AR-15-style assault rifles during raids at the house and an apartment at 1116 N. 20th St., McAllen.

U.S. District Judge Randy Crane sentenced Carlos Rios Davila and Marco Guzman Velasquez at a hearing Wednesday in McAllen.

Both men received 63-month prison sentences for their roles in the gun trafficking scheme.

Crane said it was unclear whether Rios or Guzman — both illegal immigrants from Mexico — played a larger role in the gun trafficking scheme.
“I would like the United States of America to forgive me, and of course, I would like the judge to forgive me,” Rios said in the courtroom in Spanish. “That is all I would like to say.”

Velasquez said he wants to use his prison time for a fresh start.
“I will not come back,” he told Crane in Spanish. “I would like the court to send me to a prison with educational opportunities so I can better myself.”

Both men will be deported upon completing their prison time.

Also formally charged in the case were Ismael Rivera Melendez and Ferdinando Guillen Rivera; however, both men’s cases were dismissed in August 2011.-[source]