CONCORD – Ariel Toribio, 22, of Lawrence, Massachusetts, was sentenced to 37 months in federal prison for aiding and abetting the making of a false statement during the acquisition of a firearm, United States Attorney Jane E. Young announced today.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on five separate occasions in November and December 2019, Toribio’s co-defendant, Samantha Sicard, purchased 11 firearms for Toribio and others. Toribio solicited Sicard to buy the firearms, instructed her about which firearms to purchase and paid for the firearms. Toribio traveled with Sicard to a federally licensed firearms dealer where she would fill out the necessary paperwork and falsely state she was the actual purchaser of the firearms when she was in fact purchasing them for Toribio and others.
Toribio previously pleaded guilty on November 8, 2021. Sicard pleaded guilty on November 9, 2021 and is scheduled to be sentenced on August 8, 2022.
“Criminals who use lies and deception to obtain guns are often planning to use those firearms to commit crimes of violence,” said U.S. Attorney Young. “In order to protect the public from violent crime, we work closely with the ATF to identify and prosecute those who are involved in the straw purchases of firearms. As this sentence demonstrates, those who commit federal gun crimes will be held accountable for their unlawful conduct.”
“Firearms trafficking continues to be a top priority for ATF and our law enforcement partners,” said James M. Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol Firearms and Explosives Boston Field Division. “ATF is committed to identifying and disrupting the sources of illegal firearms which jeopardize the safety of our communities.”
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Debra Walsh.
The case is part of ATF’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is a federally-funded program intended to reduce gun violence through law enforcement training, public education, and aggressive law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes.
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