Christian Castro, Stolen Firearms Offenses, Massachusetts 2020

BOSTON - Christian Castro, a 31-year-old man from New Britain, Conn., has agreed to plead guilty to a variety of charges in connection with stealing 17 firearms from a West Springfield gun shop and making false statements to federal agents.

According to the charging documents, Castro was a felon on state probation for two prior convictions in Connecticut for larceny and possessing narcotics with intent to distribute. Shortly after midnight on or about Aug. 29, 2020, Castro and his co-defendant Fernando Rivera engaged in a crime spree in Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts that included seven ATM thefts and culminated in the theft of 17 firearms from a federal firearms licensee in West Springfield, Mass.

On Sept. 18, 2020, federal agents arrested Rivera and Castro at their homes in Connecticut. During interviews with investigators Castro admitted that he drove to and from several ATM robberies and the gun store robbery, but falsely stated he never received, kept or even touched any of the stolen guns.

During a search of Rivera’s phone investigators identified several photographs and videos depicting Rivera (and Castro in one instance) with many of the stolen firearms. A forensic extraction of the defendants’ phones allegedly revealed communications indicating that on Sept. 4, 2020, Rivera discovered that he was a suspect in the thefts and then traveled with Castro to New York to sell at least three of the firearms.

The charges against Castro include: theft of firearm from a Federal Firearms Licensee; being a felon in possession of firearm; interstate transportation of a stolen firearm; receipt, possession, concealment, storage, barter, sale, or disposition of a stolen firearm in interstate commerce; and making false statements to a federal official.

The firearms charges each provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of making false statements provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, up to three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/connecticut-man-agrees-plead-guilty-stolen-firearms-offenses-and-making-false-statement-0