A federal judge has sentenced a Tucson man and two others to prison for buying guns with counterfeit money, officials say.
Osmar Bustamante-Figueroa, 21, was sentenced Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Jennifer G. Zipps to 65 months in prison.
Bustamante-Figueroa was the third of three defendants convicted on charges stemming from a federal probe of the production and use of counterfeit money and the unlawful possession of firearms, the US Attorney’s Office in Arizona said in a news release.
Clinton Young, 43, of Irving, Texas, and Jose Manuel Valenzuela, 19, of Tucson, had previously pleaded guilty in the case. Young was sentenced to 15 months in prison and Valenzuela was sentenced to 16 months in prison for conspiracy to pass or possess counterfeit currency, the release said.
Starting in early 2016, Bustamante and Young began counterfeiting, and using the fake money to buy firearms from private individuals who advertised online, the release says. Some $50,000 in counterfeit currency was passed to at least 16 people during the federal probe.
During the time, Bustamante was under indictment for an unrelated state felony drug case, the release said.
