DEKALB COUNTY, Ga. — A man will serve 25 years in prison without parole after pleading guilty to orchestrating a military-grade gun trade with drug cartels.
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said he was able to pull the crime off while locked up in a Georgia state prison.
“It’s terribly frustrating,” said Hertzberg.
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The U.S. Attorney said back in 2024, the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms started noticing a number of people were buying machine guns in metro Atlanta with cash.
During their investigation, agents discovered more than 223 guns purchased.
“The price of all these firearms is over $700,000,” said Benjamin Gibbons.
Gibbons is the Special Agent in Charge of the Atlanta Division of the ATF.
“These are the weapons of choice for one reason and one reason alone. That is violence to advance drug trafficking efforts,” said Gibbons.
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He said some of the firearms are strong enough to take down armored vehicles and small aircraft. Others can fire nearly 1,000 bullets in a minute.
Agents on his team dug deeper. They tracked the people buying the machine guns. They connected 16 of them to a person locked up in a Georgia prison named Servando Corona Penaloza.
“This individual should not have been here at all,” said Hertzberg.
He said Corona Penaloza is from Mexico. He was deported from the states in 2008, but Hertzberg said he came back.
He was serving his second prison sentence for Gwinnett County drug trafficking when the U.S. Attorney said he used contraband cell phones to direct people on the streets to sell drugs, move money, buy guns and smuggle them to Mexico.
“One would like to think that, at the very least, what we accomplish when we lock somebody up, is isolate them and stop them from doing more harm,” said Hertzberg. “He actually was able to do greater harm from behind bars.”
Investigators seized 105 of the guns in the U.S. They think the rest may have made it across the border. So far, Mexican authorities recovered an additional 20 firearms in Mexico that were connected to this investigation.
As for the 16 co-defendants connected to Corona Penaloza’s case, 14 of them have been convicted and sentenced. Two are awaiting sentencing in the coming months.
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Here are a list of their names and crimes:
- Ulises Hernandez-Pineda, 38, of Suffolk, Virginia, was sentenced to 10 years, and one month in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, and conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine.
- Jared Thompson, 41, of Snellville, Georgia, was sentenced to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
- Carlos Sambrano, 29, of Rex, Georgia, was sentenced to nine years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
- Kevin Delrio-Oliva, 23, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was sentenced to seven years, and three months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms and money laundering.
- Marlon Geovanie Chen, 33, of Belize, was sentenced to five years, and three months in prison, to be followed by deportation proceedings, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
- Jairo Najera, 26, of Conyers, Georgia, was sentenced to four years, and nine months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms.
- Teresa Gonzalez-Hoopo, 57, of Mexico, was sentenced to three years, and ten months in prison, to be followed by deportation proceedings, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in concealment money laundering and possession of a firearm by an illegal alien.
- Berenice Macias Montes, 32, of Mexico, was sentenced to three years, and ten months in prison, to be followed by deportation proceedings, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to engage in concealment money laundering and making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
- Torres Simmons, 28, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years, and ten months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
- Timothy Dennis, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to three years, and five months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
- Cameron Vick, 23, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, was sentenced to three years, and five months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
- Adalberto Alexander Avila Antuuez, 23, of Honduras, was sentenced to two years in prison, to be followed by deportation proceedings, after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine and possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
- Jason Castillo, 22, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, was sentenced to one year, and six months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
- Jessica Smith, 41, of Atlanta, Georgia, was sentenced to one year, and one day in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after pleading guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer.
Two more defendants are waiting to be sentenced.
- Victor Mendoza-Ortiz, 25, of Winston-Salem, North Carolina, pleaded guilty to making false statements to a licensed firearms dealer, and will be sentenced on May 19, 2026.
- Salvio Garcia, 25, of Lawrenceville, Georgia, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, and money laundering, and will be sentenced on June 11, 2026.
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