Federal prosecutors in Chicago unsealed two indictments this week that accuse five city residents of trafficking multiple firearms into Chicago in May and June. Two of the five have entered not guilty pleas and remain in federal custody while additional arrests and arraignments move forward in federal court.
The first indictment charges Luis Salas-Ferrer, 29, and Jose Vargas-Ron, 29, with allegedly selling handguns in the city. A separate indictment names Adrian Andres Romero-Sanchez, 24; Miguel Alejandro Castillo-Ceballos, 26; and David Andres Hermoso-Mayor, 23, in alleged sales of semiautomatic rifles, a shotgun and a handgun. Prosecutors say Castillo-Ceballos and Hermoso-Mayor also allegedly sold two more semiautomatic rifles and three semiautomatic handguns in May, and that Romero-Sanchez and Hermoso-Mayor allegedly distributed ketamine and MDMA. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Maureen Merin and Paul Schied, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
“Our federal gun laws do not exempt foreign nationals or anyone else from being held accountable for illegally trafficking in firearms,” U.S. Attorney Andrew S. Boutros said in the office’s announcement. The release notes that the indictments were announced jointly with leaders from the ATF, U.S. Customs and Border Protection and the Border Patrol, and that Homeland Security Investigations and the Chicago Police Department assisted in the cases, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
Part of a wider, multi‑district investigation
Prosecutors say the Chicago cases tie into a broader, multi‑district investigation that has already produced federal charges in Colorado and involved coordinated task‑force work across several districts. Related indictments and the national coordination behind them have been described by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
Local partners and intelligence work
Authorities credited Homeland Security Investigations and the Chicago Police Department with helping develop the new cases, highlighting how federal and local teams trade leads on suspected trafficking networks. Chicago’s Crime Gun Intelligence Center has supported earlier trafficking investigations and weapons recoveries this year, illustrating how tracing data is used to pick apart alleged supply chains. The Chicago Police Department has published background on those CGIC efforts.
What the charges mean
The defendants are charged with conspiring to deal firearms without a license, a federal felony that can lead to criminal penalties and potential forfeiture of weapons. Willfully dealing in firearms without a license is punishable by up to five years in prison and fines, depending on the facts of each case, according to Federal Register / ATF rulemaking. The indictments are allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.
