Men sentenced for trying to purchase military-grade weapons
Aug 23, 2012, 1:03 PM | Updated: 1:03 pm
Two Mexican men was sentenced on Wednesday for attempting to purchase military-grade weapons, including an anti-aircraft missile, for the Sinaloa drug cartel.
In 2009, David Diaz-Sosa, 27, a known weapons and narcotics broker for the cartel, began to negotiate a price for the items listed below with undercover federal agents.
• A Dragon Fire anti-tank weapon
• Two AT-4s (an 84-mm unguided, portable, single-shot recoilless smoothbore weapon)
• A LAW Rocket (a Light Anti-Tank Weapon)
• A Stinger Missile (a portable infrared homing anti-aircraft surface-to-air missile)
• Two Def Tech grenade launchers and a dozen 40 mm grenades
• One M-60 machine gun
• One .30 caliber machine gun
• Three cases of hand grenades
As a down payment, Diaz-Sosa had an accomplice, Emilia Palomino-Robles, deliver 4.5 pounds of methamphetamine.
On Feb. 17, 2010, Diaz-Sosa met with agents to finalize the payments for the items. He and another associate were arrested with 11.5 pounds of methamphetamine in their possession. Palomino-Robles was arrested later that day. He was found to be in possession of $139,900, the additional portion of the weapons payment.
Diaz-Sosa plead guilty to conspiracy to acquire and export an anti-aircraft
missile, conspiracy to possess unregistered firearms (machine guns) and transfer firearms for use
in a drug trafficking crime, conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and
possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was sentenced to 25 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Palomino-Robles was sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
