Californian man also said to provide pistols with machine-gun capabilities, offer a discount to the buyer when selling meth at 5 pounds or more.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, Miguel Resendiz on four occasions handed over or sent associates to deliver privately assembled firearms without serial numbers ( ghost guns ) or that were modified for quick fire with a single pull of the trigger ( machine-gun converted ).
Resendiz came on the radar of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives next December through a personal agent in Escondido, Calif. The suspect and an ATF representative acting as a customer had a meeting set up by the source.
According to court documents, Resendiz allegedly sold the broker a 9mm Glock handgun with a machine-gun change system and a pound of mdma” that had just crossed” from Mexico for$ 2,400. That happened on Dec. 10.
A 9mm handgun assembled from components without a serial number or register record was a second gun purchased from Resendiz on January 10. The ATF purchased it from Resendiz on January 10. The ATF refers to those unlawful handguns as “ghost weapons”, because their provenance is anonymous.
A week later, the representative arranged to get three weapon from Resendiz, including another 9mm “ghost gun” and two authorized guns. Resendiz allegedly requested associates to pick up the weapons in exchange for$ 2, 900 to deliver them at two different locations in Escondido.
According to court documents, Resendiz sold another 9mm “ghost weapon” and one ounce of methamphetamine to the undercover agent on February 22 as part of the next deal. The agent reportedly gave the criminal$ 1,800 and allegedly offered the suspect a “discount” on subsequent purchases of methamphetamine worth five pounds or more during the court-agreed secret meeting.
Resendiz was charged by a federal grand jury last week on numerous counts of dealing firearms without a permit, being a murderer, conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, and possessing a firearm while committing a drug trafficking offense.
Jose Vasquez Espinoza, Zenia Yvette Mora, and Ana Soria were charged with drug-related acts and assisting in a crime’s payment.
In 2016, Resendiz was found guilty in California Supreme Court on a charge of carrying a loaded rifle in people, according to status court documents. He served 180 days in prison. He was found guilty in the same courtroom in 2018 for being a felon in possession of a rifle. It’s unclear how long he served in captivity, which totaled 84 times.
