6 Plead Guilty to Assembling Homemade Grenades
MCALLEN – Six people are headed to prison after pleading guilty to making homemade grenades.
Five Rio Grande Valley residents and a Mexican national in the country illegally were charged for making military-style grenades and not reporting them.
According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 19-year-old Noe Gonzalez made more than 150 makeshift hand grenades with items purchased online and at local stores.
Gonzalez assembled the explosives in a workshop behind his home and then delivered them to Jonathan Sanchez Torres, a Mexican national, and others to sell them.
Undercover investigators bought about 45 grenades directly from four of the men for about $400 each.
When Gonzalez was arrested, he was set to make an additional 200 grenades but the parts were intercepted.
According to officials, the military-style grenades were intended to be sold and exported to Mexico.
The men were given sentences ranging from eight to 20 years in federal prison.
Two of the men face deportation following their release from prison. The others will be under supervision for three years after completing their sentence.