Mexican man pleads guilty in Missouri to illegal firearm possession

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Mexican man pleaded guilty in federal court Monday to illegally possessing the firearm he used in a drive-by shooting.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Kansas City, Missouri, Police Department.

Javier Guerrero-Garcia, 23, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Stephen R. Bough to being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm. In his plea, Guerrero-Garcia admitted that he fired a Glock .40-caliber semi-automatic handgun into a residence early in the morning of Nov. 19, 2017.

According to court records, a Kansas City resident contacted police officers after Guerrero-Garcia fired multiple shots at her house at approximately 3:45 a.m. Nov. 19, 2017. When the resident went outside she saw Guerrero-Garcia driving away in a red BMW. Shortly thereafter, Guerrero-Garcia returned and fired more shots at her home and vehicles. Police officers arrived at the scene and learned that bullets had entered the home, and three vehicles had been struck by bullets. About an hour later, Kansas City police officers conducted a traffic stop of the red BMW Guerrero-Garcia was driving. When he and two passengers got out of the vehicle, officers saw the Glock handgun as well as an extended magazine inside the vehicle. The handgun had previously been reported as stolen.

A forensic examination was performed on the .40-caliber shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting and the Glock handgun recovered from the vehicle. This examination confirmed the shell casings recovered from the scene of the shooting were fired from the Glock handgun.

Guerrero-Garcia has a prior federal conviction in 2018 in Kansas for being an illegal alien in possession of a firearm, for which he was sentenced to 14 months in prison.

Under federal statutes, Guerrero-Garcia is subject to a sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress and is provided here for informational purposes, as the sentencing of the defendant will be determined by the court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Kate Butterfield.