AZMEX EXTRA2 2-3-13

AZMEX EXTRA 2 2 MAR 2013


Man convicted of selling rifles to ATF agents
Posted: Saturday, March 2, 2013 9:00 am
Ildefonso Ortiz | The Monitor
Posted on March 2, 2013
by Ildefonso Ortiz

http://www.themonitor.com/news/local/
article_c14eda56-82d5-11e2-9b84-001a4bcf6878.html


McALLEN — A Florida gang member pleaded guilty Friday after he bought
guns for federal agents posing as a Mexican drug cartel.
Lawrence James Panka pleaded guilty Friday counts of drug and weapons
conspiracy before U.S. District Judge Randy Crane.
Agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives
arrested Panka after a month long, undercover operation that began in
Pharr and concluded in Sarasota, Fla., where they caught him as he
was cutting into a brick of cocaine, court records show.
The investigation began in September 2012, when ATF agents learned
Panka had been traveling to Pharr looking to sell automatic rifles to
Mexican drug cartels for $2,000, or one ounce of cocaine, each.
An ATF agent posing as a Mexican drug cartel member looking for guns
met in November with Panka, who told him that he could bring him
automatic rifles that could be taken to Mexico.
The following day, Panka called the agent and asked if he had the
necessary connections to get him five kilograms of cocaine and 400
pounds of marijuana, court records state. The agent said he had to
garner approval from his bosses to make those deals, but that it
could be done.
Soon after, the agent called Panka and said his bosses agreed to
trade drugs for guns. The first trade was supposed to be a half kilo
for 16 rifles and a second kilo as a deposit for additional weapons.
On Dec. 11, Panka brought two enforcers with him as they met with a
group of undercover ATF agents posing as Mexican cartel members to
finalize the guns for drug trade. The agents took three kilos of
cocaine and asked Panka to pick one. Once the kilo had been picked,
Panka cut into it to test it, but was immediately arrested along with
his enforcers.
Panka's sentencing date has not been set.
The alleged co-conspirators in the case, Brandon Houston and Jantzen
Wheeler, are expected in court Tuesday for a final pre-trial hearing.
Both also face drug and gun conspiracy charges.
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