Anti-Gun Activist Pleads Guilty To Selling Assault Weapons
Hector “Big Weasel” Marroquin plead guilty to selling assault weapons to undercover federal agents last Thursday. In 1996, Marroquin, started an anti-gang/anti-gun group in Las Angeles called “No Guns.” The group siphoned $1.5 million from LA, over a three year period, under the guise of “steering Latino youths from a life of crime.” Big Weasel also was tapped as a arbitrator for a local detention center, quelling race riots.
Marroquin was arrested in May in a case that stemmed from an investigation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives into gun sales by the 18th Street gang.
Using video surveillance and a confidential informant, the agency bought several weapons from Marroquin, Harmon said.
In one case, Marroquin sold a MAK-90 semi-automatic assault rifle out of his bar, Marroking Seafood and Bar on Atlantic Avenue in Cudahy, to a confidential informant for the firearms bureau, authorities said.
He also sold a Ewbank 7.62-millimeter assault rifle to the confidential informant and a M-11, similar to an Uzi, to an undercover bureau agent, authorities said.
Marroquin has had numerous run-ins with law enforcement.
He is a reputed longtime member of the South-Central Los Angeles 18th Street gang. A gang expert testified to a grand jury that Marroquin remained a shot-caller in 18th Street despite claiming to have dropped out, Harmon said.
You really have to appreciate the “do as I say, not as I do” attitude of this guy. A real role model to be sure. He may have helped some youths stay clear of a life of crime, but it seems like he just transferred it in the process.
He was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
Always look at those who wish to rid the community of guns with a great deal of scrutiny, whether it be an individual or a government. You may find, as in the case of Marroquin, they aren’t practicing what they preach.