Disabled man smuggled guns to cartel in specialized van

A quadriplegic Chula Vista man who smuggled ammunition and firearms across the Mexican border to the Knights Templar drug cartel was sentenced in San Diego federal court Thursday to five years and eight months in prison, federal prosecutors said.

Sergio Garcia-Rico, 53, took advantage of his disabilities to avoid suspicion as he crossed the border in his specially-designed handicapped van, argued Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Haden.

He was arrested Jan. 21 as he tried to enter Mexico at the Otay Mesa border crossing, where a Customs and Border Protection officer discovered thousands of rounds of ammunition hidden in his wheelchair, as well as firearms and firearms parts in the van, authorities said.

Garcia-Rico pleaded guilty in August to drug and weapons charges, admitting to buying weapons at gun shows across California to sell to the drug cartel. He said he made up to $500 per gun sale.

“It is obvious that these weapons are being used to kill people,” U.S. District Judge Dana Sabraw said during the sentencing hearing, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “I think that is plain as the day is long. That is what these weapons and munitions are used for.”

The Knights Templar are an offshoot of the La Familia Michoacana drug cartel.

Garcia-Rico’s friend, Luis Antonio Sanchez-Andrade, was also sentenced Thursday to 10 months in prison for being an undocumented immigrant in possession of a firearm. He admitted to helping Garcia-Rico load the weaponry, since Garcia-Rico has limited use of his hands. His daughter, Julie Garcia-Garcia, was sentenced in October to three years of probation for being a “straw buyer” of at least one gun for her father.

Garcia-Rico was ordered to forfeit his home, as well as about $11,000.

Federal prosecutors in San Diego and Imperial counties have placed a renewed emphasis on cases involving firearms, with prosecutions increasing by 111 percent from fiscal year 2012 to 2014, officials said.