Law officer admits smuggling guns

A former police officer in deep South Texas faces up to 10 years in federal prison after pleading guilty to helping smuggle a cache of AR-15s and other semi-automatic weapons to Mexico, authorities announced Thursday.

The admission by Armando Duenez, 31, comes after a saga that began in 2008, when as a Rio Hondo policeman, he jumped bond and fled across the Rio Grande.

He tried to run from charges that he used his position — in cahoots with another police officer who has since been sent to prison — to buy highly sought-after guns that were sent to Mexico.

Civilians are forbidden from owning such weapons in Mexico, but they are in high demand by warring drug cartels.

After more than four years on the run, Duenez surrendered in December to U.S. border guards in Brownsville.

He reportedly told them he missed his family in the United States.

The case against Duenez appears to have started in 2007, when he went to a Rio Hondo gun shop and presented the dealer with a note on police letterhead that he was authorized to pick up four military-style rifles for law-enforcement purposes, according to court papers.

The guns had been shipped to the Rio Hondo store after being purchased from an Indiana firearms dealer by former Palm Valley police officer Ramon Martinez, who was also charged in the case.

Some of the weapons later were found in Mexico and traced back to them.

With his guilty plea, Duenez admitted to buying more than 15 guns that later were resold in Mexico, according to a statement from prosecutors.

He also admitted to fleeing to Mexico. He is to be sentenced in May. Each charge carries a penalty of up to five years.

Martinez, the other former officer, pleaded guilty in 2009 and was sentenced to 29 months.

He was released in 2011.