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INDEPENDENT
Go to BurbankIndependent.com for Burbank Specific News MONDAY, NOVEMBER 11 - NOVEMBER 17, 2019 VOLUME 7, NO. 45
TWO SAN BERNARDINO MEN CHARGED WITH SMUGGLING FIREARM PARTS FROM UNITED STATES TO SAUDIA ARABIA
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hree Saudi nationals have been charged in two separate indictments for allegedly violating federal export laws by purchasing more than $100,000 in weapons parts in the United States while on student visas and then smuggling the parts to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. A five-count indictment returned by a federal grand jury in Riverside charges Hatim Humeed Alsufyani, 36, and Mosab Alzahrani, 27, both formerly of San Bernardino, with one count of conspiracy to smuggle goods out of the United States without obtaining export licenses. Alsufyani also was charged with three counts of knowingly exporting weapons parts without a license, while Alzahrani also was charged with one count of knowingly exporting weapons parts without a license. Between May 2014 and July 2018, Alsufyani and Alzahrani allegedly conspired to smuggle firearms parts from the U.S. to Saudi Arabia by concealing rifle barrels, rifle triggers, and other items related to
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firearms in their checked luggage on flights from Los Angeles to Saudi Arabia. They allegedly also would falsely identify rifle barrels, rifle triggers, and other items related to firearms as “shower curtain rods” or “car parts,” or other false names before exporting the items
Man Sentenced for Fatally Stabbing Bus Passenger in East Los Angeles A 29-year-old Montebello man was sentenced today to 26 years to life in state prison for fatally stabbing a passenger on a bus in East Los Angeles last year, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office announced. A jury convicted Manuel Ortiz Jr. on Sept. 9 of one count of firstdegree murder and found true an allegation that he
used a deadly and dangerous weapon, a knife. Deputy District Attorneys Christina Lutz and Marlene Martinez prosecuted case BA467237. On April 9, 2018, Ortiz boarded a bus at Montebello and Whittier boulevards. After riding the bus for
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to Saudi Arabia. For example, on December 10, 2016, Alzahrani attempted to board a flight from Los Angeles to Riyadh with 30 firearms parts concealed in his checked luggage, including 12 rear sight leaf assemblies and six New England Custom Gun
single set rifle triggers, the indictment alleges. Alzahrani also lied to U.S. customs officials about possessing rifle barrels in the United States that were intended to be exported to Saudi Arabia, according to the indictment. If convicted of all charges, Alsufyani would
Gang Member Convicted of Murdering Man with Ties to Rival Gang A jury convicted a gang member of firstdegree murder in the 2017 shooting death of a man with ties to a rival gang in Anaheim. Osiris Lenin Garfias Pedraza, 23, of Fullerton, was found guilty of one felony count of firstdegree murder, one felony count of the personal discharge of a firearm causing death, and one
felony count of active participation in a criminal street gang in connection with the murder of Jonathan Hernandez, 22, of Anaheim on July 5, 2017. The jury also found the enhancement of special circumstances to be true. Garfias Pedraza faces a minimum sentence of life
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face a statutory maximum sentence of 65 years in federal prison, and Alzahrani would face 25 years in federal prison. In a separate indictment returned on November 1 and unsealed today, Abdulwahab Mohammed A. Alabdulwahab, 30, formerly of
Los Angeles, was charged with 15 counts of smuggling and 15 counts of knowingly exporting firearms parts from the United States without first having obtained an export license from the State Department. Between December 2015 and January 2018, Alabdulwahab contacted U.S.-based firearms parts retailers to purchase firearms parts for the purpose of illegally exporting those components to Saudi Arabia, the indictment alleges. Specifically, Alabdulwahab purchased .223-caliber and .308-caliber rifle barrels, which by federal law require a license to be exported from the United States to any other country, according to the indictment. At no time did Alabdulwahab apply for, receive, or possess such a license, the indictment alleges. If convicted of all charges, Alabdulwahab would face a statutory maximum sentence of 10 years in federal prison for each smuggling count, and 20 years’ imprisonment for each violation of the Arms Export Control Act.
Mission Inn Hotel & Spa Festival of Lights Returns to Riverside Nov. 29 The 27th annual Mission Inn Hotel & Spa Festival of Lights returns to downtown Riverside on Friday, Nov. 29 with food, entertainment, a fireworks display and the much-anticipated switch-on ceremony to turn on millions of holiday lights at the historic hotel. Vendors and attractions open at noon. The switch-on ceremony, produced by The Mission Inn Hotel & Spa, the Greater Riverside Chambers
of Commerce and the City of Riverside, starts at 4:30 p.m., with fireworks following roughly an hour later. The gathering at the corner of Orange Street and Mission Inn Avenue marks the beginning of the holiday season for Riverside residents. “The Festival of Lights is a time-honored way to celebrate the kick-off of the holiday season with family
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