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A man accused of buying two rifles found at the scene of the fatal shooting of a federal agent near the Arizona-Mexico border is scheduled to change his plea Thursday in the federal government’s botched gun smuggling investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Jaime Avila Jr. faces charges of dealing guns without a license and making false statements in firearms purchases as an alleged member of a 20-person smuggling ring that’s accused of buying guns and smuggling them into Mexico for use by the Sinaloa drug cartel. Avila had previously pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Authorities say two AK-47 variants bought by Avila from a suburban Phoenix gun store were found in the aftermath of a December 2010 shootout that mortally wounded Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry near Nogales, Ariz.
Federal authorities have faced harsh criticism since Terry’s shooting for allowing suspected straw gun buyers to walk away from gun shops with weapons, rather than arrest the suspects and seize the guns there.-[source]
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