LOS ANGELES (AP) - A former Los Angeles-area police officer who was convicted of making illegal gun sales, including one to a convicted felon, was sentenced Monday to nearly three years in federal prison.
Carlos Fernandez of Norwalk received a 33-month sentence from a judge who called his conduct “egregious” and “shocking,” according to a statement from the U.S. attorney’s office.
Prosecutors say Fernandez was a police officer in suburban Gardena when he used his position to buy “off-roster” guns, which aren’t available to the general public but can be legally sold to law enforcement officers.
The guns - mainly Colt .38-caliber handguns - were advertised online and illegally sold dozens in private sales, authorities said.
Prosecutors said in one case, Fernandez sold 10 weapons to a Salinas man who, as a convicted felon, was forbidden from buying them.
That man, Oscar Camacho Jr., is serving a six-year federal prison sentence after pleading guilty last year to conspiracy and cocaine distribution charges.
Fernandez was convicted last year of conspiracy and dealing firearms without a license, selling firearms to a convicted felon and of making false statements about the sales on federal firearms licensing paperwork.
He was fired after the conviction.
Another ex-Gardena officer, Edward Arao, was convicted of conspiracy and illegal firearms dealing but a judge on Monday ordered a new trial, ruling that Arao and Fernandez should have been tried separately.
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