Man Sentenced to 55 Months in Prison for Illegal Sale of Firearms
SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – The Honorable Daniel Domínguez of the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico sentenced defendant Carlos Osorio-Pérez to a near-statutory-maximum sentence of 55 months of prison and three years of supervised release. Osorio-Pérez pled guilty to a conspiracy to engage in the unlicensed business of dealing in firearms in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 371 and 922(a)(1)(A).
Osorio-Pérez was the leader of an organization active for years in the Miami and Tampa Field Division areas of responsibility. As part of his plea, he acknowledged that he purchased almost 100 guns in Florida and sent them via the U.S. mail to co-conspirators in Puerto Rico for sale. Osorio-Pérez further acknowledged that he knew that the buyers of several of the guns would use them unlawfully. Intended recipients of the guns included drug-trafficking organizations in Puerto Rico. In WhatsApp conversations, Osorio-Pérez recommended that an unlicensed firearm seller in Puerto Rico talk directly to the “street bosses” and “top dogs.”
On December 14 and 15, 2020, Osorio-Pérez caused to be mailed from Florida to Puerto Rico for illegal sales the following firearms: four (4) Glock pistols; a Zastava AK-47 type pistol; a Mini AK-47 type pistol; and four (4) lower receivers for AR-15 type pistols.
Osorio-Pérez was charged with four other members of the conspiracy. Co-defendant Luz Damariz Pérez-Velázquez was already sentenced to 36 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Her roles in the conspiracy included sending money to Florida for the purchase of firearms, receiving the firearms in Puerto Rico through the U.S. mail, and delivering the guns to co-conspirators in order to sell them in Puerto Rico for profit without a license. Members of the conspiracy would use Western Union and Walmart to transfer the proceeds of firearm sales from Puerto Rico to Florida.
U.S. Attorney W. Stephen Muldrow of the District of Puerto Rico; and Christopher Robinson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Miami Field Division, made the announcement.
Assistant United States Attorneys Jeanette Collazo, Carlos Cardona, and Jonathan Gottfried prosecuted the case.
