California cops illegally sell guns on Instagram — including 10 to a felon, feds say
Two Southern California police officers face years in prison after they were convicted of illegally selling guns over Instagram — including to a felon, according to prosecutors.
A jury found Gardena police officers Carlos Fernandez, a 44-year-old from Norwalk, and Edward Arao, a 49-year-old from Eastvale, guilty Wednesday in a scheme that involved buying “off-roster” guns not available to the public, then illegally reselling those guns to turn a profit, the U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California said in a news release.
At their six-day trial, evidence showed Fernandez used the Instagram handle “the38superman” to advertise firearms for sale from him, Arao and others, prosecutors said — with the “vast majority of post on the account” including pictures of guns.
Court records said the men bought and sold nearly 90 guns starting in the summer of 2015, the Los Angeles Times reports.
Both officers were found guilty of conspiracy to engage in the business of dealing firearms without a license and engaging in an unlicensed firearms business, while Fernandez was convicted of another conspiracy count, selling firearms to a felon and making false statements, according to prosecutors.
Arao was CEO of Ronin Tactical Group, a federal firearms licensee, and “similarly advertised off-roster guns on the company’s Instagram account that he then re-sold in his individual capacity,” prosecutors said.
Both men also marketed guns at gun shows, but neither was licensed individually to sell guns when the sales included in the indictment occurred, prosecutors said.
The pair “exploited their position as police officers to ensure the success of their illegal gun selling business,” according to prosecutors: Fernandez bought “off-roster” Colt .38-caliber handguns that law enforcement but not the general public could buy, then “sold dozens of these weapons through private-party transfers.”
Arao also got his hands on “off-roster” guns “by transferring them to himself individually from the inventory of Ronin Tactical Group,” prosecutors said.
The sales were arranged over Instagram, prosecutors said.
Fernandez sold 10 guns to Oscar Maravilla Camacho, Jr., a 36-year-old Salinas felon, from May 2016 to December 2017, according to prosecutors — and “Fernandez communicated directly with Camacho Jr. about the firearms purchases and understood that Camacho Jr., as a felon, could not legally buy the weapons.”
According to the Times, “Prosecutors said Fernandez frequently messaged buyers who spotted his Instagram posts, including one transaction in which he advertised a ‘Colt .38 Super LW Commander 100% authentic locked and loaded for sale!’ That weapon and others can fetch boutique prices in California.”
The pair are set to be sentenced in March, with Fernandez facing up to 35 years and Arao facing up to 10 years in federal prison, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Prosecutors said six others in the case “have pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges for distribution of cocaine, conspiracy to dispose of firearms to a felon, and making false statements that led to the straw purchase of several firearms.”
City News Service reports that when the 17-year veterans of the police force “were charged last year, the then-chief of police in Gardena said the two men had been placed on administrative leave, and said that the department cooperated fully during the investigation.”
This story was originally published November 21, 2019 at 6:49 PM with the headline "California cops illegally sell guns on Instagram — including 10 to a felon, feds say."
