South Texas woman sentenced to more than 7 years for 2 separate convictions - attempting to purchase machine guns, bank fraud

SAN ANTONIO – A south Texas woman was sentenced Wednesday to 87 months in federal prison for her roles in a conspiracy to purchase machine guns and attempt to smuggle them into Mexico, and bank fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Robert Pitman, Western District of Texas.

This case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); with assistance from the San Antonio Police Department, and U.S. Secret Service.

Yadira Mauricio Ybarra, 38, from San Antonio, appeared before U.S. District Judge Orlando Garcia who sentenced her May 15 to 87 months in federal prison and also ordered her to pay $133,846.09 restitution for bank fraud. She will also be placed under supervised release for a period of three years after she completes her prison term. On July 12, 2011, Ybarra pleaded guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun.

According to court records, on April 19, 2011, federal authorities arrested Ybarra and 24-year-old Willy Mendoza after they paid $10,000 to an undercover agent and took possession of 10 firearms – four fully automatic machine guns, and six semi-automatic assault rifles. Court records also reflect that both Ybarra and Mendoza knew the firearms would be illegally exported to Mexico. On Oct.6, 2011, Mendoza was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to illegally possessing a machine gun.

On Feb. 7, 2012, Ybarra pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy bank fraud. By pleading guilty, Ybarra admitted that from April 28, 2009 until July 6, 2009, she conspired with others to steal about $130,000 by forging signatures of various account holders at the Wells Fargo Bank, Las Palmas branch, in San Antonio.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Roomberg, Western District of Texas, prosecuted both cases.