LawFuel.com – Legal Announcements –
PHOENIX – Clementina Robles Maldonado, 23, of San Fernando, Calif., was sentenced on Monday, June 8th, by U.S. District Judge Susan R. Bolton to 12 months and one day in prison for straw purchasing firearms for a man she knew to be a drug dealer in California. Maldonado pleaded guilty on March 2, 2009, to making a false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm. Maldonado, who had no prior criminal history and who was five months pregnant at the time of sentencing, was also fined $2,000.
Between December 9, 2006 and June 9, 2007, Maldonado purchased 17 handguns from a licensed firearm dealer in Glendale, Ariz. During the purchase of these handguns she completed a federal Firearms Transaction Record which must be filled out whenever a person buys a firearm from a gun shop. On this form, Maldonado gave a false home address, falsely claimed Arizona as her state of residence and falsely stated that she was the actual buyer of the firearms. In actuality, she was a resident of California and purchased the firearms for the sole purpose of selling the firearms to another person.
Maldonado admitted during her change of plea hearing that she profited from the sale of the handguns and told ATF agents that she sold 14 of the 17 handguns to an individual that she believed was a drug dealer. One firearm was sold to an acquaintance of hers and two were found in her possession. At the time of her sentencing on June 8, 2009, one of the firearms she purchased had been recovered in gang related violent crime in Los Angeles. The remaining handguns have yet to be recovered.
The investigation in this case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Field Divisions in Los Angeles and Phoenix. The prosecution was handled by Theresa Rassas, Assistant U.S. Attorney, District of Arizona, Phoenix.
CASE NUMBER: CR-08-1056-PHX-SRB
RELEASE NUMBER: 2009-186(Maldonado)
# # #
For more information on the U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, visit http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/az/
<>
Sandy Raynor
Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Attorney’s Office
District of Arizona
Work: 602. 514.7625
Cell: 602.525.2681
sandra.raynor@usdoj.gov
