Cesar Ignacio Perez-Barrios, 48, of Santa Cruz, Sonora, Mexico, was sentenced last week by United States District Judge Rosemary Márquez to 46 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Perez-Barrios also was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment. Perez-Barrios pleaded guilty to Smuggling Goods from the United States.

On April 28, 2019, Perez-Barrios knowingly attempted to smuggle from the United States into Mexico: five AR-style upper receivers; five AR-style lower receivers; five AR-style barrels; five AR-style buffer tubes; five trigger kits; and five AR-style pistol grips. These items were concealed in a vehicle driven by a co-conspirator who then attempted to exit the United States into Mexico. Perez-Barrios expected to be paid for his role in the operation, whose purpose was to illegally smuggle the firearm parts into Mexico from the United States.

The firearm parts, whose transportation across the border was arranged by Perez-Barrios, are prohibited from being exported from the United States into Mexico without a valid license. Neither Perez-Barrios nor any of his associates had a valid license or any other lawful authority to export the items to Mexico.

Homeland Security Investigations conducted the investigation in this case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brandon Bolling and Sandra M. Hansen, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.