Mexican National Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing Firearms

BOISE — Ceila Ivonnie Loya, 32, a Mexican national formerly living in Wendell, Idaho, was sentenced today to 30 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release for unlawful possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced. She pled guilty in October 2011.

According to the plea agreement, on September 9, 2010, Loya was found in possession of a 12 gauge shotgun and a .22 rifle. Loya admitted that she sold the firearms for $250 to a person prohibited from possessing firearms. The defendant is prohibited from possessing firearms because she is an alien illegally in the United States.

Loya’s co–defendant, Juan Montejano Barraza, 41, was sentenced in December 2011 to 128 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine and unlawful possession of a firearm by an illegal alien. Barraza was ordered to forfeit $100,000 in drug proceeds. His federal sentence will run concurrent to a six–year state prison sentence. He will be deported after he is released from prison.

The remaining co–defendant, Jose Dolores Leon–Aispuro, is a fugitive.

The case was investigated by the Idaho State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).