A high school teacher left his dog in a hot car for an hour and a half while he made illegal straw purchases of guns, which he turned over to an illegal immigrant who then spread them around, including two weapons that were later used in shootings.

Federal agents kept an eye on the whole scene, and moved in for the bust, arresting both the gun buyer and the illegal immigrant — though the dog perished, federal authorities said Tuesday as they announced multi-year sentences for the two culprits.

Prosecutors said DeAndre Cannon, the teacher and basketball coach, bought nearly four dozen guns in Georgia over four months in 2022, handing them off to Conroy Samuels, a Jamaican illegal immigrant who’d been deported but snuck back in, and who also had a 2003 conviction for attempted murder on his rap sheet.

Samuels then distributed the weapons, including the ones used in multiple shootings in Connecticut, authorities said.

Samuels had to rely on Cannon, 34, for the purchases because neither illegal immigrants nor felons are generally allowed to purchase or possess firearms.

“Although we are very pleased with the success of this operation, unfortunately this operation highlights the persistence of illegal firearms trafficking and demonstrates that this type of crime is real, extant, and must be continuously battled,” said Alicia Jones, assistant special agent in charge at the Atlanta office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Samuels, 50, came to the U.S. at age 11. It’s not clear from court documents when he was deported nor when he snuck back in, but the documents do reveal that he was living under a stolen identity.

Indeed, when authorities first charged him in 2022 with being part of the gun dealing operation, they charged him under his assumed name of Justin Sheffield.

It wasn’t until this April that prosecutors filed the new charges under his real name.

All told, authorities tracked 44 handguns they say Cannon bought for Samuels, though Samuels said in court filings that not all of them were turned over to him.

ATF agents were on hand at a pawn shop in Jonesboro, Georgia, on June 15, 2022, when Cannon bought nine weapons for Samuels. Agents saw Samuels withdraw money from a parking lot ATM and give it to Cannon, who went into the store then came back out an hour and a half later and gave the guns to Samuels.

During that time, Cannon left a dog inside his car, as temperatures hit 95 degrees.

“When agents encountered Cannon later, they saw that Cannon’s pet was suffering from extreme heat stress. The dog later died despite receiving emergency treatment from Clayton County animal control officers,” the U.S. attorney’s office for the Northern District of Georgia said in a statement detailing the case and criminal sentences.

A judge in August sentenced Samuels to 57 months in prison for convictions of possessing a firearm as a prohibited person, conspiracy to make false statements to a firearms dealer, and illegal reentry after deportation.

Cannon was sentenced last month, receiving a 50-month sentence for one conviction of conspiracy to make false statements to a firearms dealer.

Samuels’ family had begged the judge for leniency, insisting the 50-year-old repeat felon was a good family man.

“My father is a great man, he is hard-working, very family-oriented, genuinely kind, intelligent, an amazing husband, and most importantly an amazing father and grandfather,” Kadeisha Samuels, one of his children, wrote in a letter. “My father not being here takes a toll on everyone, especially his kids and grandchild.”

Samuels’ uncle, meanwhile, asked the judge to reduce his sentence to community service, saying he would be a good candidate to work with boys.

Michael T. Ross, Samuels’ lawyer, said his criminal days are behind him.

“Mr. Samuels is ashamed of his conduct and is not interested in participating in other unlawful behavior,” the lawyer said.

He said Mr. Samuels will be deported to Jamaica when his sentence is up, and his wife and their children will follow him.

Cannon’s lawyer, Takiya Wheeler, also begged for leniency, saying the felon’s 10-year-old son would “suffer the most” from his father’s crime and incarceration.

“His financial struggles led him to where he is today, a struggle that is all too familiar when examining why people commit crimes,” Ms. Wheeler wrote to the judge.

• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.