Man convicted of trafficking guns from El Paso to Juárez gets 3 1/2 years in prison

EL PASO, Texas -- A 34-year-old El Paso man was sentenced Thursday to nearly 3 1/2 years in federal prison for dealing guns without a license.

According to court documents and testimony at trial, Jose Luis Garcia Jr. had purchased at least 49 firearms in El Paso between December 2019 and August 2020.

Federal authorities noticed that Garcia, who was living in Juarez at the time, would often cross into the U.S. for just a few hours to purchase weapons and then return to Mexico.

In August of last year, Garcia was interviewed by federal agents. When asked if he currently owned any of the 49 guns he had purchased, Garcia told authorities he did not.

Earlier this year, a federal jury convicted Garcia of selling guns without being licensed to do so.