An illegal immigrant from Guatemala living in the U.S. under a fake identity illegally bought hundreds of AK-47 rifles and Glock pistols and shipped them to customers in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, where some were used in crimes.

Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron pleaded guilty to firearms trafficking, dealing guns without a license and possessing a firearm as an illegal immigrant, federal prosecutors announced this week.

Sune-Giron, 34, admitted to being part of a gun-running operation and working with straw purchasers who bought weapons on his behalf — and were paid tens of thousands of dollars to do so.

Over the period from 2023 to April 2024, one straw purchaser bought more than 153 guns for Sune-Giron, another bought 120 guns and a third bought more than 100 guns.

Sixteen of the weapons turned up at crime scenes in the Dominican Republic, according to the plea agreement Sune-Giron signed.

He said he concealed the weapons in his shipments to hide them, and he knew his purchases and transfers to the foreign countries were against the law.

Sune-Giron entered the U.S. in 2014 and has been living in Florida using his brother Rafael’s identity.

Authorities said he has an active arrest warrant from Guatemala for aggravated robbery.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has indicated it will try to deport him once his time with the criminal justice system is over.

Agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives spoke with several of the straw purchasers who worked for Sune-Giron.

One had Sune-Giron listed in his phone contacts as “Rafael Gun Buyer.” That man said he regularly bought weapons from Floridaguntrader.com and was paid $50,000 for his purchases in 2023.

As of December, at least eight of the guns he purchased for Sune-Giron have been recovered from crime scenes in the Dominican Republic.

Another, the man who bought at least 153 weapons for Sune-Giron, made his purchases at 14 different gun dealerships from Tampa to Orlando. Eight of those weapons have also shown up at crime scenes in the Dominican Republic.

When agents raided homes involved in the scheme they seized dozens of guns, grenades, piles of ammunition and cash.

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