Feds: 3-man gun ring uncovered in Georgia, dismantled

ATLANTA -- Federal prosecutors said they have uncovered and dismantled a three-man ring accused of plotting to smuggle semiautomatic assault rifles across the border to Mexico.

Daniel Beal-Perez, an illegal immigrant, pleaded guilty Wednesday to charges of possessing four firearms. He decided not to plead to a second count of conspiring to traffic illegal guns, frustrating prosecutors who vowed to bring the case to trial.

Beal-Perez's guilty plea comes on the heels of court appearances earlier this month by two men prosecutors say worked with him to smuggle the guns: Dario Rodriguez-Gomez and Manuel Gamez-Valenzuela. Both men pleaded guilty to charges of plotting to traffic firearms, and Rodriguez-Gomez also pleaded guilty to illegal immigrant charges.

The men each face more than five years in prison time and a fine of more than $250,000 when they are sentenced later this year.

Acting on a tip, prosecutors said they staked out Beal-Perez's home in the Atlanta suburb of Doraville in January 2010 after leaing that he was working with Gamez-Valenzuela in a plot to buy eight to 10 semiautomatic guns to send to Mexico.

They watched as Rodriguez-Gomez drove up to the home, carried in a heavy box, and left later with an empty box, according to court records. After the men left, agents who raided the house found four semiautomatic rifles, along with large-capacity magazines.

U.S. Attoey Sally Quillian Yates said federal prosecutors are dedicated to unraveling the "trail of guns and violence that runs from Georgia to Mexico and back."

"These defendants acquired semiautomatic assault rifles with the intent to transport them to Mexico where they would have undoubtedly ended up in the hands of members of the extremely violent drug cartels that operate there," she said.

Defense attoeys, meanwhile, said prosecutors were overstating the charges. Page Pate, who represented Gamez-Valenzuela, said his client never purchased any guns, but only asked around to determine if anyone knew where they could get guns.

"There was no evidence that my client had any intention of sending those guns to Mexico," said Pate, who said his client pleaded guilty because he had already been held in detention for months waiting for a trial. "He was simply inquiring about the purchase in firearms for an acquaintance he knew in Georgia."