A former Fort Carson soldier was sentenced Thursday to three years in federal prison for smuggling guns to the Dominican Republic.

Katherine O’Neal, 43, was sentenced in Denver by U.S. District Judge William J. Martinez, according to a news release from the U.S. attorney’s Colorado office. O’Neal will also serve three years of supervised release following completion of her prison term.

A jury on March 6 found O’Neal guilty of smuggling goods from the United States. She was acquitted on other counts alleging false information on firearm purchase forms and money laundering.

Evidence at her trial showed O’Neal made multiple trips to the Dominican Republic shortly after purchasing firearms in Denver and Colorado Springs, including one trip where she flew from Denver to the Dominican Republic with 11 firearms in her luggage in early June 2015, according to the news release.

“She declared the firearms to the airline but did not obtain the required State Department export license,” prosecutors said.

Her bags had been misdirected by the airline and were not on her flight. When the bags arrived later, Dominican Republic officials found the handguns in her baggage. When she claimed the luggage, she was arrested. The Dominican Republic has a ban on all imported firearms.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Charges in the Dominican Republic are pending her extradition to that country.