Crime

Drugs for guns: Valley woman, 20, faces 20-years in prison

By Jim Guy
AR-15s, like this weapon recently seized from a suspected gang member in Fresno, were on the shopping list of a group of Californians arrested in a plan to trade drugs to a group in Tennessee in exchange for guns.
AR-15s, like this weapon recently seized from a suspected gang member in Fresno, were on the shopping list of a group of Californians arrested in a plan to trade drugs to a group in Tennessee in exchange for guns. Fresno Police Department

A Kettleman City woman faces up to 20 years in federal prison after she pleaded guilty Monday to trafficking in drugs and firearms across state lines.

Alexis Sanchez, 20, was part of a conspiracy to smuggle firearms from Tennessee, where there are no background check for private firearms purchases, to California, according to U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott. The weapons included AR-15 rifles. In a plea agreement, Sanchez acknowledged neither she nor other conspirators possessed federal firearms licenses.

According to the Tennessee website Knox News, Rafael “Ralphie” Sanchez, another conspirator, the group shipped edible marijuana, cash, and cocaine to Tennessee in exchange for a shopping list of firearms. The purchases took place between April 2016 to March 2018.

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