14 individuals are now facing a 20-count federal indictment, dishing out charges like conspiracy and making false statements during firearm purchases. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Arizona has cracked the lid on an alleged scheme involving straw purchases of heavy weaponry, including belt-fed firearms and the formidable .50 caliber rifles, around Phoenix and Yuma. According to the Department of Justice, this indictment is a legitimate accusation backed by an investigatory process with its gears oiled by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The accused bunch ranges from 21 to 56 years old, a cross-sectional look at an alleged conspiracy where each individual reportedly lied on the ATF Form 4473. That sacred declaration of firearm purchase intent, claiming personal use while the guns were, as the indictment states, intended for one David Moreno Quevedo from El Mirage. These defendants, including Quevedo himself, stand as a collective, as noted in the unsealed indictment detailing activities from July 15, 2023, to December 23, 2023. They're looking at prison time up to five years for the conspiracy charge and ten for the false statement count, with monetary fines that could hamstring finances up to $250,000.
This case dovetails into Operation Take Back America, the kind of initiative that sounds like the poster child of the Department of Justice's concerted efforts to push back against illegal immigration and cut down cartels and transnational criminal organizations.
