EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – Two men from Arizona are facing conspiracy charges – one for allegedly lying and the other for allegedly paying him to lie – related to the acquisition of 59 firearms.

Documents submitted Tuesday in federal court indicate that Jose Humberto Sandoval Limon provided false statements to firearms dealers on 27 occasions while acquiring nearly five dozen guns between September 2021 and July 3, 2024.

Prosecutors claim Sandoval misrepresented who was actually purchasing the weapons. They assert that it was a man named Jose Perez Villarreal who supplied Sandoval with the funds for each purchase and subsequently took delivery of the guns.

Some of the case documents have been sealed, so it’s not clear what happened to the firearms.

Investigators allege the firearms were purchased from licensed dealers at retail locations including Sportsman’s Warehouse and Sprague’s Sports. Neither the retailers nor their licensed dealers are accused of wrongdoing.

The issue of fraudulent gun purchases in Arizona prompted a 2022 lawsuit by the Government of Mexico against five dealers operating in the state.

Mexico alleges many of those guns end up being used in violent acts south of the border. The judge overseeing that case has given the Mexican government and the dealers until April 15 to file motions of discovery.