A former gun dealer from Humble has been handed a 42-month prison sentence after pleading guilty to falsifying firearms records, which were a part of a scheme to illegally export guns to Iraq, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Texas. Yashab Idnan Sandhu, 53, admitted to the crime last year and will follow his prison term with three years of supervised release, according to U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen's orders.
The case originated when authorities located a stash of roughly 473 handguns concealed in a shipping crate destined for Iraq at a warehouse in the Port of Houston on March 13, 2020, and 38 of these weapons had their serial numbers removed, but despite these efforts, officials were able to trace them back to R’s Golf & Guns, a firearms business Sandhu was connected with. As the investigations unfolded, Sandhu was found guilty of selling firearms to a suspected smuggler and then covering his tracks by falsifying sales records to make it appear as though the guns had been sold to other individuals.
The gravity of Sandhu's actions was underscored by ATF Special Agent in Charge Michael Weddel who stressed the importance of gun dealers maintaining public trust; "Being a responsible gun dealer is not just a matter of business; it’s a fundamental duty to safeguard public safety and uphold the trust placed in our agency by the American people," Weddel stated, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office. He also emphasized that the violation by Sandhu compromised the integrity and public confidence in the system set up to regulate firearms dealerships.
The investigation that led to Sandhu's conviction was a collaborative effort between the ATF, FBI, and Bureau of Industry and Security. It was brought to the courtroom by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Schammel and Heather Winter, who successfully prosecuted the case. In the meantime, Sandhu has been allowed to remain on bond until he is required to surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility, the location and date of which are yet to be determined.
