Leal coordinated the recruitment of straw purchasers who would then buy AK-47 variant rifles that would then be smuggled to Mexico.

Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas announced the conviction of several men in connection with the straw purchase of semi-automatic rifles at a South Texas gun store — including one young man who oversaw the operation, who was a recipient of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program.

According to the Department of Justice, Mario Elier Leal, age 22, recruited other men to purchase multiple Century Arms model VSKA rifles, which are semi-automatic variants of the AK-47 rifle.

Leal, who was prohibited from owning firearms as a DACA recipient, paid Rodolfo Benitez-Garza and Jesus Christo Lopez to buy the rifles at a gun store in Mission, Texas.

Court documents detail how federal agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), as well as Mission police, intercepted Benitez-Garza and Lopez as they were leaving the store with the recently purchased firearms.

Benitez-Garza confessed to agents that Leal was paying $2500 per rifle, after first claiming the guns were for personal use.

While agents were questioning the two suspects in the parking lot of the gun store, Leal was seen circling the store in his truck, prompting agents to stop his vehicle and place him under arrest.

So far, the ATF has identified at least 13 other rifles that were purchased as part of Leal’s straw purchasing recruitment scheme.

After being convicted at trial, Leal was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison. After the completion of his prison term, officials say he will immediately face deportation proceedings.

Benitez-Garza was sentenced to 18 months in prison, while Lopez will be sentenced in August.


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