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Enrique Quijada, 25, who was in the country illegally, must serve out the entire term because there's no parole in the federal prison system.
U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said Quijada – also known as “El Enano 13” and “Kike” -- worked for a crew that sold handguns and a semi-automatic rifle, among other weapons, to what turned out to be FBI operatives in and around Monmouth and Ocean counties.
Rather than face trial, he took a deal from the government in exchange for leniency.
Quijada told a federal judge during a guilty plea in Trenton last December that he worked with ringleader Manuel “Chino” Espinosa-Ozoria of Bartow, FL, his brother, Waldin “Manin” Espinosa-Ozoria of Freehold and two others.
Defendant Jacquelyn DeJesus, also of Bartow, filled the role of straw purchaser, buying the guns for Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria in Florida, Sellinger said.
They both then brought the weapons to Monmouth County, where Quijada and others sold them to “individuals working at the direction and supervision of the FBI,” the U.S. attorney said.
Quijada admitted during his plea that he also sold cocaine to a buyer working for the FBI, he said.Javier Rodriguez-Valpais, Waldin Espinosa-Ozoria and Jacquelyn DeJesus also took pleas in connection with the case.
They and Quijada will likely testify against Manuel Espinosa-Ozoria if he goes to trial. The charges against him are still pending, Sellinger said.
In addition to the prison term, U.S. District Judge Anne E. Thompson sentenced Quijada to three years of supervised release for his guilty pleas to dealing drugs, conspiring to sell guns and being an illegal alien in possession of firearms.
Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Field Office with the investigation leading to the pleas, and Quijada's sentence, all secured by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ian D. Brater of his Criminal Division in Trenton.
He also thanked the FBI Tampa Division, the ATF Newark and Tampa field divisions and Freehold police for their assistance.
The case is part of Project Guardian, the Department of Justice’s “signature initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws,” Sellinger said.
PROJECT GUARDIAN: justice.gov/archives/projectguardian
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