(Adds additional guilty pleas, sentencing date, details)
By Tim Gaynor
PHOENIX, April 5 (Reuters) – Three men pleaded guilty on
Thursday to charges of trafficking high-powered rifles and other
guns to Mexico from Arizona under the botched “Fast and Furious”
federal sting operation tied to the murder of a U.S. federal
agent.
Jaime Avila Jr., Joshua David Moore and Kenneth James
Thompson were among a ring of 20 defendants charged with buying
and running high-powered firearms including Kalashnikov-type
assault rifles, 5.7mm pistols and Barrett sniper rifles to the
Mexican cartels.
The purchases were made in the Phoenix area from 2009 to
2010 when a bungled U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms
and Explosives operation allowed more than 2,000 U.S.-bought
weapons to slip across the border to Mexico.
Two of those weapons were found at the spot near the
Arizona-Mexico border where U.S. Border Patrol agent Brian Terry
was killed during a shootout with illegal immigrants in December
2010. It was not clear, however, if those weapons fired the
fatal shots.
Fast and Furious was run by the Phoenix field office of the
ATF and the U.S. Attorney. Its goal was to try to track guns
being smuggled from the initial purchaser to senior drug cartel
members.
Avila was named as the primary defendant in the suit.
According to court documents, he was recruited in November 2009
by a co-conspirator, Juan Jose Martinez-Gonzalez, to make
third-party straw purchases from licensed dealers. He bought 52
firearms, including powerful .308-caliber rifles and two
.50-caliber Barrett sniper rifles.
During his involvement with the ring, he became aware that
the guns were intended for export to Mexico, where drug cartel
violence has killed more than 50,000 people since late 2006.
All three defendants pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring
to deal in firearms without a license, making false statements
in acquiring a firearm and smuggling guns out of the United
States.
Avila and Moore also pleaded guilty to a second count of
willfully engaging in firearms dealing without a license.
Upon sentencing on June 25, they face up to 10 years in
prison, while Thompson faces up to five years.
Calls to Avila’s attorney and the Justice Department on
Thursday seeking comment were not immediately returned.
President Barack Obama’s administration has been criticized
over Fast and Furious, which has been under investigation by the
U.S. Congress.
Republicans have questioned who in the administration knew
about and approved the operation and its tactics and when. They
have issued subpoenas for documents and for witnesses to
testify.
Terry’s family, meanwhile, has filed a $25 million
wrongful-death claim against the U.S. government, saying he was
killed because federal investigators allowed guns to fall into
the hands of violent criminals.
(Editing by Jackie Frank and Lisa Shumaker)
