Norwalk Man, 22, Sentenced to 40 Months in Prison for Illegal Firearms Trafficking

A 22-year-old Norwalk man who pleaded guilty in December to illegal firearms selling was sentenced in federal court Monday to 40 months in prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.

Raul Caban-Martes and others sold five firearms, ammunition and a bullet-proof vest to a convicted felon between August 2013 and January 2014, according to prosecutors. In December, Caban-Martes pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to deal in firearms without a license.

Caban-Martes was accused of helping to sell five firearms along with the ammunition and vest to an undercover officer, according to The Hour. A co-defendant, Stephen Herold, 25, was arrested with Caban-Martes and Jacob Nunez in the summer of 2014 in connection with the sales. Law enforcement officials said Herold supplied the guns and Nunez supplied a gun and ammunition, according to the Hour, which cited an arrest warrant affidavit.

Unlike Caban-Martes, Jacob Nunez was arrested on state charges. He has pleaded not guilty and his case is in state Superior Court in Norwalk, but he’s been released and prosecution has been suspended until January 2017, according to the Connecticut Judicial Branch website.

While he was in federal custody last December, Caban-Martes “instructed family members to conceal another firearm so that he could sell the weapon upon his release,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release. Caban-Martes was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Hartford.

The case was investigated by the Norwalk Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.