Ex-Marines Busted for Allgedly Selling “Assault Weapons”

Three ex-Marines and two other people were arrested for allegedly selling "assault weapons" to someone they believed was a gang member, federal agents said Tuesday.
  
Adam Andrew Gitschlag, 28, of San Clemente, was arrested in a Nov. 2 raid of his home, and Jose Smith Pacheco, 31, of Montebello, and Miguel A. Ortiz, 49, of Northridge, were arrested Monday, according to agents with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. All three are ex-Marines, and Ortiz is a postal employee.
  
Also arrested were Edwin Cano, 33, of Northridge and Christopher John Thomas, 32, of Van Nuys, according to ATF.
  
The five allegedly sold about $6,000 worth of illegal ``assault weapons,'' such as AK-47s and AR-15s, to an undercover agent they thought was a gang member. The deal took place at a U.S. Postal Service building where Ortiz worked.
  
"These arrests show that there are people still illegally trafficking firearms to gang members for profit," John A. Torres of the ATF office in Los Angeles said.
  
Thomas, Ortiz and Pacheco pleaded not guilty today in state court to charges of having unlawful guns and are due back Nov. 18 for a preliminary hearing, according to ATF.
  
Gitschlag, free on $20,000 bail, is due for arraignment Nov. 24.
  
Cano is free on $100,000 bail pending arraignment.