On Monday, two more “straw buyers” were sentenced for conspiracy and smuggling guns to Mexico. Both men played a role in the U.S. government’s botched investigation, Operation Fast and Furious. Via the AP:
Jacob Anthony Montelongo was sentenced in federal court in Phoenix to nearly 3 1/2 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy and dealing guns without a license. Sean Christopher Steward received a nine-year sentence for conspiracy and making false statements to authorities.
The two men make up a larger ring of individuals who were involved in major gun-trafficking networks on the U.S.-Mexico border.
Operation Fast and Furious, an ATF led investigation, aimed to dismantle these rings by focusing on several Phoenix area gun shops and straw buyers who took guns across the border.
But the operation became controversial when Border Patrol Agent Brian Terry was killed in a gun battle. At least one weapon connected to Fast and Furious was found near the location where Terry was fatally shot.
