Ex-college student sentenced to 21 mos. for straw-buying guns, including .50-caliber sniper rifle

Man linked to former U.S. consulate employee who tried to cross into Mexico with 15 weapons
Posted Feb 16, 2024, 2:01 pm
Paul Ingram

TucsonSentinel.com

A23-year-old man was sentenced to 21 months in prison last week for his role in a scheme to buy 15 firearms, including a .50-caliber sniper rifle, and smuggle them into Mexico in 2020. Javier Alejandro Ramos-Velderrain was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash after a jury convicted him of making a false statement during a purchase of a firearm during a trial last October.

Ramos-Velderrain was linked to Luis Manuel Bray-Vasquez, a former U.S. Consulate employee who was sentenced to 46 months in prison in August 2021 for attempting to smuggle firearms from the U.S. into Mexico months earlier.

On Nov. 4, 2020, Bray-Vasquez attempted to drive through a Nogales border crossing while at the wheel of a tan Chevy Suburban owned by the U.S. consulate. U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers attempt to search his vehicle, but Bray-Vasquez fled from the officers at "high rate of speed."

Bray-Vasquez ignored "verbal and visual commands to stop the vehicle," and had to swerve to avoid striking a CBP officer, according to court documents. However, officers were able to close an exit gate, preventing Bray-Vasquez from driving into Mexico.

More:
https://www.tucsonsentinel.com/local/report/021624_straw_purchaser_guns/ex-college-student-sentenced-21-mos-straw-buying-guns-including-50-caliber-sniper-rifle/