Tim Ryan, tryan@wolfrivermedia.com
Two Shawano men with links to what authorities have called one of the largest drug conspiracy cases ever seen in Shawano County were indicted in federal court this week for allegedly purchasing firearms on behalf of California drug smugglers, according to court records.
Gary W. Hancock, 24, and Jesus S. Zepeda, 29, are charged with conspiring to violate federal firearms laws and three counts of making false statements in connection with purchasing firearms.
Both had also been in contact with a third party charged in connection with the Shawano County drug conspiracy, though that person was not indicted in the federal case.
In August 2015, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol seized 16 firearms from a vehicle attempting to cross the border from Arizona into Mexico. The firearms turned out to be purchased by at least 10 other parties in seven different states.
Two of the firearms were traced back to Hancock.
Authorities subsequently learned that Hancock had allegedly also supplied at least one firearm that was seized in August 2014 during a search warrant on a Santa Rosa, California, residence where marijuana and other weapons had been seized.
According to a criminal complaint, Hancock admitted to authorities he had been a “straw purchaser” who had provided firearms to a drug and firearm trafficking organization in late 2013 and early 2014.
According to the complaint, Zepeda arranged for Hancock to purchase the weapons because Hancock was not a felon or otherwise prohibited from buying firearms.
Hancock bought three guns “with cash supplied by individuals from California” and gave them to Zepeda, according to the complaint.
Authorities also interviewed a third party who has not been federally indicted, but is one of 10 people charged in connection with a Shawano County drug smuggling conspiracy that allegedly involved transporting marijuana between California and Wisconsin.
According to the complaint, Zepeda asked this party if he would sell marijuana. He also told authorities Zepeda was accompanied by three other people who “came from California to traffic large amounts of marijuana with Zepeda’s knowledge,” according to the complaint.
He also told authorities that Zepeda, Hancock and the California subjects were taking marijuana stored in Zepeda’s attic and distributing it in Chicago and Ohio, and that on one occasion Zepeda and Hancock were paid $10,000 to bring 200 pounds of marijuana back to Shawano from California.
According to the indictment filed in federal court Tuesday, between December 2013 and February 2014, the defendants, and others, allegedly conspired to purchase firearms for residents of California.
The indictment alleges Hancock and Zepeda received money from the California residents and purchased firearms for them at licensed firearms dealers in the Green Bay area. Hancock allegedly made false statements on firearms transfer forms in order to purchase two semiautomatic rifles and a semiautomatic handgun.
Hancock and Zepeda each face a maximum of five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and up to three years of supervised release, on the conspiracy charge, and up to 10 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, or both, and up to three years of supervised release, on each of the false statement charges.