On Thursday, two women, Cassandra Gonzalez, 51, and her 29-year-old daughter Imajah Tierra Cervantes, were sentenced to a combined 18 months in federal prison for aiding a Mexican drug cartel member to buy firearms illegally, as announced by U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Leigha Simonton via the Department of Justice.
Gonzalez's attempt to buy a rifle from a Federally Firearm License dealer was the beginning of their illegal activities. She filled out an ATF Form 4473 falsely claiming she was purchasing the firearm for herself and listed a fake Garland address, while in reality living in Lubbock, Texas according to the Department of Justice.
Subsequent investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives' Dallas Field Division confirmed their suspicions about Gonzalez and Cervantes. The duo was detained on January 4, and extensive questioning revealed that they were working for a person tied to a Mexican drug cartel, who was living in Dallas. Cervantes confessed that they were hired to buy the rifle and give it to the cartel associate, promising them a $2,000 reward. Further, Cervantes revealed that this was not their first transaction of this nature as reported by the Department of Justice.
After hearing her daughter's confession, Gonzalez confessed her initial falsehood and admitted to buying the firearm for another person affiliated with drug trafficking and Mexican cartels. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, a new law to combat increasingly complex criminal enterprises, laid the foundation for Cervantes' plea.
