A former U.S. Border Patrol agent will be sentenced on April 30 after a jury convicted him of seven counts of illegal transportation of firearms. They were purchased in Arizona and brought into California even though some of the firearms were not legal in this state.
Martin Rene Duran, 48, of Chula Vista, was allowed to remain free on $109,000 bond by U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Huff. A jury also convicted him last month of possession of an unregistered firearm.
“Federal law enforcement officers are not above the law,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Adam Braverman. “All citizens are required to abide by the laws of the United States.”
Duran made the firearm purchases and used an Arizona driver’s license with an address where he did not live. He also claimed to be a resident of Arizona even though he resided in California. He signed documents under penalty of perjury in which he said he was an Arizona resident.
Duran, who was also a supervisor with the Border Patrol, did temporary duty in Arizona for about 14 months from 2006-2008, but the weapons were purchased in 2011, 2013, and 2014. According to court documents, agents from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives talked to him in 2014 and found some of the weapons in his home.
Duran admitted that he shortened a barrel on a rifle so it would fit inside a safe, according to prosecution documents. Duran acknowledged the weapon was illegal with the short barrel and abandoned it into the custody of the ATF agents.
A jury in his first trial deadlocked and a mistrial was declared on Oct. 27, 2017. Duran had no prior convictions, but is no longer with the Border Patrol.
Duran faces another trial on charges of deprivation of rights under color of law and falsification of Border Patrol records involving a Chula Vista man who is alleged to have sexually abused a child. Both Duran and Raymundo Estrada Figueroa, 50, were charged in 2015 with different offenses in federal court.
Estrada is charged with travel into a foreign commerce to engage in illicit sexual conduct. Estrada has pleaded not guilty and remains free on $100,000 bond. A trial date will be set for him on April 30.
