Lehigh Acres, FL - A Southwest Florida man was sentenced to three years in prison after he falsified documents to illegally buy guns for a Mexican drug cartel.
On Monday, a U.S. District Judge sentenced 28-year-old Gabriel Acosta Jr. to three years and one month in federal prison.
Prosecutors say Acosta purchased multiple high-powered rifles from gun stores in Fort Myers and Cape Coral between December of 2018 and March of 2019.
Acosta claimed he was buying the firearms for himself, but was actually purchasing the guns for the cartels in return for kickbacks.
After the guns were purchased, Acosta would travel to Texas, where he would unload the guns to a cartel associate.
Mexican military personnel confiscated three firearms purchased by Acosta following firefights with suspected cartel members.
Acosta pled guilty to falsifying records related to firearm purchases on May 25th.