A former Army sergeant has been sentenced to nearly 17 years in federal prison for funneling numerous assault rifles to operatives of Mexico’s Gulf Cartel last year by organizing other soldiers to help him buy the weapons.

At a hearing Thursday, Chief U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia sentenced Julian Prezas, a former Army recruiter in San Antonio, to 200 months of prison. Prezas, 37, pleaded guilty in December to five counts of lying on federal firearms forms and one count of attempting to export defense articles to Mexico.

Prezas acknowledged acquiring 42 guns — 23 of which were seized and forfeited to the government during the investigation. However, court records said an informant told federal agents that Prezas sold him 13 AR-15s, some 50 to 60 AK-47s and a shotgun in 2015.

In some cases, Prezas delivered the guns to the Rio Grande Valley while in uniform and in a government vehicle, the joint investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations found.

“It is deeply troubling that a member of the … military flagrantly violated federal firearms laws and engaged three other servicemen in a straw purchasing scheme. This defendant was keenly aware that the firearms were destined for the Gulf Cartel in Mexico,” said Fred Milanowski, special agent in charge of the ATF.

Earlier this year, Garcia sentenced Prezas’ co-defendants — Thomas John Zamudio, 33, Ricardo Esparza Salazar, 47, and Christopher Brown, 32 — to two years of probation after they pleaded guilty to making a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm.

“These weapons often contribute to fueling the violence committed by drug cartels, which drastically affects communities both in Mexico and in the United States,” said Shane Folden, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations in San Antonio. “This sentence sends a strong message to weapons traffickers that law enforcement will work aggressively with our federal … partners to combat this egregious and dangerous criminal activity.”

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