Font ResizeA South Jordan man who admitted buying and selling Glock pistols without a license was sentenced Monday to spend a year and a day in federal prison.
Prosecutors say a firearm sold by Hedthel Mauricio Corleto ended up in the hands of a "notorious" drug trafficker in Guatemala. But they also acknowledged Corleto had no direct connection to the trafficker, which led them to drop the most serious charge of smuggling goods from the United States.
Defense attorney Ron Yengich told U.S. District Judge Ted Stewart that Corleto was selling firearms to make money and did not believe they would end up with criminals. Yengich pointed out that his client registered the weapons, something a person intending to commit a crime generally would not do.
Corleto, a 33-year-old U.S. citizen who was born in Guatemala, apologized and said he had made a "huge mistake." He pleaded guilty in June to the license offense, as well as to making a false statement in the acquisition of a firearm.
Stewart ordered Corleto, who has been free pending resolution of his case, to begin his sentence on Jan. 4.
In a plea bargain, Corleto said he bought or sold at least 16 Glock handguns from September 2007 through August 2008 in Salt Lake County. He admitted falsely saying he was the buyer, when he was really purchasing the guns for others.
Court documents say 14 of the Glock pistols were purchased at a Murray store and two from a Taylorsville store, both federal
Assistant U.S. Attorney Eric Benson alleges that one pistol eventually was registered to Horst Walter Overdick Mejias, a drug trafficker in Guatemala known as "El Tigre," and two to his son, Horst Walter Overdick Barrios.
