CHICAGO - A registered nurse from Lombard who admitted purchasing and shipping more than 30 weapons to the Philippines has been sentenced to 60 months in federal prison.
Makasiar also admitted in his plea agreement that he filed a false report on Aug. 17, 2012, with the Lombard Police Department after learning that two of the weapons would be inspected by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. In the report, Makasiar falsely stated that the 2 weapons had been stolen from him prior to their being shipped.
“Defendant’s conduct implicates the foreign policy and national security interests of the United States and threatens the safety of the Philippines by contributing to the proliferation of the small arms trade," Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Fayhee argued in a government sentencing memorandum. “The illegal trafficking of firearms from the United States to the Philippines is a significant law enforcement problem."
The sentence was announced by Zachary T. Fardon, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois, and James Gibbons, acting special agent-in-charge of the Chicago Office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).
"The illegal exportation of firearms is tantamount to breaching the border," Gibbons said. "The prosecution of weapons smugglers is an HSI priority as we work to interdict illegally trafficked guns and secure our nation’s borders in both directions."
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
