A woman from McAllen, Texas, has been sentenced to over a decade in prison for her involvement in firearms trafficking. U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei announced that 38-year-old Jazmin Gutierrez and her co-defendant, Isai Alpides-Navarrete, both pleaded guilty to the charges in July of last year.
U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos sentenced Gutierrez to 121 months in federal prison, followed by two years of supervised release. During the sentencing, the court was informed about the involved number of firearms and the duo's trips to collect them before transferring them to another individual who smuggled them across the border. Judge Ramos remarked, "this wasn’t an isolated incident, but multiple trips and that the firearms were going to individuals who commit serious crimes."
Alpides-Navarrete, who is a Mexican citizen residing illegally in the U.S., received the same 121-month sentence for participating in straw purchasing of firearms and being an alien in possession of ammunition.
Authorities arrested Gutierrez in March 2024, discovering five handguns, a 7.62x39mm assault rifle, high-capacity magazines, and ammunition in her possession. A subsequent search at a McAllen residence resulted in the arrest of Alpides-Navarrete and the seizure of approximately 275 rounds of ammunition, high-capacity magazines, and 21 empty pistol boxes.
Gutierrez confessed during her arrest to having acquired over 50 firearms from online private sellers, which were then smuggled into Mexico by other individuals.
Despite her sentencing, Gutierrez is allowed to remain on bond and is yet to surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, which will be determined soon.
This case stems from an initiative by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF), involving several agencies such as the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Immigration and Customs Enforcement - Homeland Security Investigations, and IRS Criminal Investigation. The OCDETF program aims to identify and dismantle high-level criminal organizations using a coordinated, intelligence-driven approach.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lance Watt is leading the prosecution.