Yashab Idnan Sandhu, Firearms Trafficking, Texas 2023

A 53-year-old man from Humble, Texas, has been sentenced to 42 months in federal prison for providing false information on federally mandated firearms records, announced U.S. Attorney Nicholas J. Ganjei.

Yashab Idnan Sandhu, 53, pleaded guilty to the charges on July 24, 2023. U.S. District Judge Andrew Hanen has now ordered Sandhu to serve 42 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

The investigation began on March 13, 2020, when authorities discovered a cache of handguns concealed in a shipping crate addressed to Iraq at a Port of Houston warehouse. They recovered approximately 473 handguns, 38 of which were pistols with obliterated serial numbers.

Law enforcement ultimately traced 38 pistols with obliterated serial numbers to R’s Golf & Guns, an FFL for whom Sandhu was a ‘responsible person.’ A responsible person is someone who has the authority and power to direct firearm compliance decisions and operations for an FFL.

The investigation revealed that Sandhu had sold these firearms to a suspected firearms smuggler. As part of his plea, Sandhu admitted that he went back to previously completed forms and added the firearms, falsely reporting they had been sold to other innocent persons.

The Southern District of Texas is pleased to have worked with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) to have intercepted this shipment of guns before they reached Iraq, and used for whatever unknown purpose, said Ganjei.

ATF Special Agent in Charge Michael Weddel added, ‘Being a responsible gun dealer is not just a matter of business; it’s a fundamental duty to safeguard public safety and uphold the trust placed in our agency by the American people.’

Sandhu was permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

ATF conducted the investigation with the assistance of the FBI and Bureau of Industry and Security. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven Schammel and Heather Winter prosecuted the case.

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