Sentencing set for Laredo man who pleaded guilty to trafficking guns for cartel

Sentencing was set this week for a Laredo man who pleaded guilty in federal court to supporting the Cartel Del Noreste by coordinating a weapons trafficking organization that smuggled firearms into Mexico. Gerardo Rafael Perez Jr., 24, pleaded guilty Thursday, Sept. 4, in a San Antonio federal court to four conspiracy counts. He pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms, conspiracy to straw purchase firearms, conspiracy to smuggle goods from the United States and conspiracy to possess firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. Perez is one of 10...