An El Paso man has been hauled in on charges for trafficking firearms and operating a dealer business without the proper license, the U.S. Attorney's Office announced yesterday. Jesse Garay, 26, allegedly bought up an arsenal between fall of last year and this past March, claiming he was the legit buyer each time he filled out the required ATF Form 4473. In a twist, private messages dug up by a search warrant suggest Garay was flipping the guns to buyers who shouldn't have had them, including a minor, feds say.
The suspect's alleged wheelings and dealings have now landed him in the hot seat, with one count of trafficking firearms, one count of dealing without a license, and two counts of lying during firearms acquisition on his rap sheet. If the gavel comes down hard, Garay could be staring down the barrel of a maximum 15-year sentence for the trafficking, another five for unlicensed dealing, and a decade for each false statement charge, according to a Justice Department statement.
The authorities claim they've already connected some of Garay's firearms to crime scenes and found others across the border in Mexico.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mathew Engelbaum and was proudly announced by U.S. Attorney Jaime Esparza of the Western District of Texas along with Jeffrey C. Boshek II, the Special Agent in Charge for the ATF Dallas Field Division.
