Jorge Pena-Venzor Of Denver Pleads Guilty To Illegally Dealing Guns

DENVER (CBS4) -- Jorge Pena-Venzor pleaded guilty last week to purchasing firearms - including a fully automated military-style rifle - with the intent of selling them to buyers in the U.S. and Mexico.

Pena-Venzor reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors on Nov. 19th. Three of the four counts against him were dropped in exchange for a guilty plea on the main charge, according to case documents.

In those documents, federal prosecutors alleged Pena-Venzor obtained eight firearms between Dec. 26th, 2017 and Feb. 11th, 2019, for the purpose of selling them to a buyer in Mexico. Case documents identified the buyer as "Carlos grande" in texts sent and received on Pena-Venzor's cell phone.

Prosecutors also claimed Pena-Venzor made sales to other individuals domestically, including one in which involved the exchange of an M249 SAW (Squad Automatic Weapon) rifle. An automatic rifle is capable of shooting more than one round by a single pull of the trigger.

Case documents indicate Pena-Venzor lied to investigators about owning a total of three of the rifles at one time.

Pena-Venzor is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Domenico on February 12, 2021.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney General's Office in Denver.