2 in South Texas sentenced in grenade launcher smuggling
Posted Mar 14, 2018 06:28:50 PM.
Last Updated Mar 14, 2018 07:01:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
BROWNSVILLE, Texas – Two people have been sentenced to federal prison for their involvement in a conspiracy to buy and smuggle from Mexico into the U.S. a grenade launcher and three semi-automatic rifles.
U.S. District Judge Rolando Olvera in Brownsville gave 38-year-old Dulce Maria Rippstine of San Juan a 37-month term Wednesday and 57-year-old Juan Martin Segura-Olvera of Reynosa, Mexico, 50 months after they pleaded guilty last year to a conspiracy charge.
Federal prosecutors say Segura-Olvera, who is not a U.S. citizen, faces deportation following his imprisonment.
Evidence showed they were among several people who found the weapons in Mexico and were arrested after negotiating in February 2017 with undercover agents posing as black market arms dealers.
Two others convicted in the case were sentenced last year.