An undercover operation involving the illegal deal of firearms culminated in eight arrests, several of which took place earlier this month at the Yolo County Airport, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which announced Thursday a 70-count indictment involving eight suspects in the case.
Hailing from Sacramento, Elk Grove, Stockton, Vallejo and Riverbank, the men face charges including the manufacturing and dealing of firearms without a license, U.S. Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner and ATF Special Agent in Charge Jill A. Snyder announced.
According to court documents, the suspects, either individually or together, met with an undercover agent on 24 occasions between Feb. 6 and Sept. 28 and sold him a variety of firearms, including rifles, AR-15 type rifles, AR-15 type short-barreled rifles, revolvers, pistols, and silencers — 67 weapons and 38 silencers in all.
Later, plans were made for a large-scale purchase of AR-15 short-barreled rifles and silencers, authorities said.
On Oct. 6, several of the defendants met with an undercover agent at the Yolo County Airport intending to sell 100 rifles unmarked, unserialized rifles and silencers and were placed under arrest, according to Wagner. The remaining five suspects were arrested later that day or on Wednesday.
The suspects were identified as Algernon Tamasoa, 27, of Sacramento; Joseph Latu, 29, of Elk Grove; John Ortiz, 43, and Keith White, 40, both of Vallejo; Ionel Pascan, 28, of Riverbank; and Stockton residents Charles Tucker, 29, Daniel Bennett, 39, and David Bennett, 27, a San Joaquin County correctional officer.
Dozens more firearms and silencers were recovered during the arrests and related serving of search warrants, authorities said.
The Woodland Police Department and the Yolo County Narcotic Enforcement Team were among the local, state and federal agencies that collaborated in the case.