3 SoCal Men Arrested for Allegedly Purchasing via False Statements More Than 120 Firearms in Utah and Illegally Reselling Them in California

LOS ANGELES - Three Southern California men were arrested today on a federal criminal complaint alleging they frequently made short trips to Utah to purchase more than 120 firearms there then illegally sold them in California without a firearms-dealing license and repeatedly lied on federal firearms sales forms while doing so.

Manuel Ivan Sanchez, 37, of Helendale, Ricardo Amezcua, 45, of South Gate, and Fernando Nava, 35, of Hemet, are charged with conspiracy.

The defendants are expected to make their initial appearance this afternoon in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

"Illegally sold guns often end up being used in violent crime and other serious offenses," said United States Attorney Martin Estrada. "It is imperative to protecting our community that we aggressively prosecute those who put all of us at risk by illegally trafficking in firearms."

According to an affidavit filed on October 23 with the complaint, from November 2022 to July 2024, the defendants frequently made short trips to Utah to purchase firearms - including various pistols and semiautomatic rifles - from licensed firearms dealers. When the defendants bought these firearms in Utah, they lied to the dealers by falsely listing on federal forms that they were Utah residents when, in fact, they resided in California.

Listing a Utah residence was important because Utah-based licensed firearms dealers generally cannot sell firearms to California residents. To buy the guns anyway, each defendants obtained either a Utah driver's license or ID card listing a Utah address. They then used these fraudulently obtained cards to buy guns from Utah-based licensed firearms dealers.

In addition, from January 2023 to August 2023, Sanchez purchased approximately 81 firearms through an informal Utah-based online gun exchange. In these transactions, Sanchez found individuals listing firearms for sale, messaged them to negotiate a price, and then met in person with the individuals at various locations throughout Utah. In at least one of the transactions, Sanchez coordinated the purchase of the firearm via text message, and Amezcua met with the seller to buy the firearm.

Sanchez then advertised the firearms that he bought for sale to other people at marked-up prices. In some cases, Sanchez advertised the guns to a middleman who was dealing guns to yet other people. At no time during the investigation has Sanchez, Amezcua or Nava possessed a license to deal firearms.

The defendants purchased approximately 123 firearms during the conspiracy - 42 from Utah-based licensed firearms dealers and 81 from the online gun exchange.

A complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of five years in federal prison.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosive is investigating this matter.

Assistant United States Attorney Kedar S. Bhatia of the General Crimes Section is prosecuting this case.

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