PHOENIX, Ariz. - On Oct. 22, 2019, Miguel Sanchez Alvarez, 43, of Mesa, Arizona, was sentenced by Senior U.S. District Judge David C. Bury to 36 months in prison followed by 36 months of supervised release. Alvarez was convicted on May 24, 2019 after a jury trial on one count of unlawful smuggling of goods from the United States.
On Oct. 1, 2017, Alvarez and an accomplice attempted to smuggle nine semi-automatic handguns, thirteen magazines and two hundred rounds of ammunition into Mexico via the DeConcini Port of Entry in Nogales, Arizona. The evidence showed that Alvarez owned all of the firearms and ammunition, concealed them at the bottom of a bucket filled with roofing tar, and provided the bucket to his accomplice, Victor Orlando Leal-Medina, to smuggle into Mexico. Leal-Medina pleaded guilty to the same offense and was sentenced by Judge Bury to 14 months in prison in December 2018.
The investigation in this case was conducted by ICE/HIS, Nogales, and ATF, Phoenix. The prosecution was handled by Michael R. Lizano, Brian C. Hopkins and Stefani K. Hepford, Assistant U.S. Attorneys, District of Arizona, Tucson.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
