FBI: Gun owners in 'source state' of TN unwittingly supply California felon in gun trafficking plot

Using Facebook, a website for private gun sellers, a handful of helpers in Lenoir City and Tennessee’s liberal gun laws, a felon smuggled guns and ammunition into California and into the hands of criminals, court records allege.

Rafael “Ralphie” Sanchez Jr., 38, a felon and accused drug trafficker from Kettleman City, California, is charged in the U.S. District Court of the Eastern District of California in a gun trafficking conspiracy linked to East Tennessee.

He is accused of plotting with five Lenoir City residents to buy guns and ammunition from gun owners in Tennessee – where no background check is required for private gun sales – and shipping them to California, which requires background checks for all gun purchases.

Tennessee 'source state'

Sanchez shipped cash and cocaine and marijuana, including California “edible” pot food products, back to Tennessee as payment for the guns and, in turn, profiteered from selling the Tennessee guns on the black market in California, according to court records.

“It is very common for suppliers of firearms to obtain their supply from states with more lenient firearms laws, which are also known as source states,” FBI Agent Kimberly Vesling wrote in a criminal complaint. “The firearms laws that exist in Tennessee are generally considered much less restrictive than the firearms laws in California.”

Records filed in U.S. District Court in Knoxville show authorities late last month arrested five Lenoir City residents – three of whom are related to Sanchez – on a federal warrant issued by a federal judge in California.

Court records reviewed by USA TODAY NETWORK - Tennessee reveal the following allegations about the gun trafficking operation:

Armslist.com, Facebook

Sanchez would choose guns and ammunition, including AR-15 rifles and high-capacity magazines, being offered for sale by Tennessee owners via the website Armslist.com, a Craigslist-style site for private gun sales.

He would then post photos of the guns in messages on Facebook’s private messaging service with instructions for either Victor Scott Luna, who lived on 7th Avenue in Lenoir City, or Juan Gonzalez, who lived on Poplar Street in Lenoir City, to buy what he wanted, the FBI alleged.

Sanchez used money transfer services to send Luna and Gonzalez money to buy the guns and would sometimes trade Luna cocaine and marijuana for the weapons, the FBI alleged.

Luna and Gonzalez would then broker deals with the Tennessee gun owners. Sanchez’s nieces – Alexis Marie Sanchez and Ashley M. Sanchez – and his sister, Elvia Mejia Sanchez – all of whom lived in Lenoir City, would package the weapons for shipping to California using various shipping services including FedEx, UPS and the United States Postal Service, according to court records.

Sanchez gave the women specific instructions, using Facebook messenger, for shipping and paid them for their work. The FBI says Sanchez sometimes paid his nieces with California pot “edibles,” and that the women had little doubt they were smuggling guns.

'Anything for the family'

Vesling included in a criminal complaint an exchange between Elvia Sanchez and her brother in which she wrote on Facebook, “You know I will do anything for the family!” Her brother responded, “Same here. Don’t ever forget that. Legal or illegal.”

Once Sanchez had the guns in hand, he would again use Facebook – this time to sell them to California buyers, the agent wrote.

“I know from reviewing the Facebook search warrant return that (Rafael) Sanchez would take a picture of the firearm he would be selling and mass private message other Facebook accounts the firearm he had for sale and for how much,” the agent wrote. “If someone was interested they would respond to Sanchez.”

The five Lenoir City residents named in the criminal complaint have since been indicted along with Sanchez and others in federal court in California.

After their arrests late last month in Lenoir City, the five alleged gun traffickers agreed to skip an initial hearing in U.S. District Court in Knoxville and are being transported to California for trial.