US army sargeant declared guilty of supplying arms to Cartel del Golfo

Translated by Otis B Fly-Wheel for Borderland Beat from a Proceso article

Subject Matter: Julian Prezas
Recommendation: No prior subject matter knowledge required

Reporter: Proceso Redaction
A sergeant in the United States Army was declared guilty of having supplying dozens of assault rifles to a group of narco traffickers in 2015 and having organized other soldiers with assistance to buy weapons.

The sergeant, Julian Prezas, 36 years of age, was declared guilty this week on a total of five charges, and two separate Federal charges for lying about possession and trafficking of fire arms and intent to export defence articles to Mexico.

Preza, who worked as a recruiter for the Army in San Antonio, Texas, admitted to the acquisition of 42 pistols, 23 of which were confiscated by authorities during the investigation.

However, a co-accused who had converted to an informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms and and explosives and Tabacco, said that Prezas had sold 74 arms, including between 50 and 60 AK 47′s and 13 AR 15′s.

During the investigation, agents used another confidential informant to buy firearms from Prezas in August of 2015, Notimex stressed in a dispatch.

The agents saw Prezas loading arms into his government vehicle at his recruitment office in San Antonio, to transport them to Pharr, in the Rio Grande Valley.

There he introduced the informant to the arms, who paid $61,000.00 and specifically he said to Prezas that the arms were for the Cartel del Golfo in Mexico, according to the declaration of guilt and other judicial documents.

Prezas faced a sentence of 10 years in prison for the charges of lying, and 20 years in prison for the intent to export firearms.

The Federal Judge Orlando Garcia will sentence Prezas on the 23rd of March. Julian Prezas also faces disciplinary sanctions on the part of the United States Military.

Original article in Spanish at Proceso