A San Antonio man was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for robbing a pawn shop of firearms and then selling them on social media.
According to court documents, Antonio Hinojosa Jr., 21, and three other men planned the robbery on a social media chat.
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The men wore gloves, masks and dark clothing when they robbed the store on May 18, 2023, and threatened store employees by brandishing firearms, a news release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Texas said.
The suspects stole 14 firearms and more than $8,600 worth of jewelry before fleeing in a getaway truck, the news release said.
After the robbery, Hinojosa posted photos of the stolen firearms on social media to advertise and sell them to his contacts, court documents said.
Hinojosa was arrested on June 26, 2023. He pleaded guilty on March 7 to one count of conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery, one count of brandishing a firearm during and in relation to a crime of violence, and one count of conspiracy to traffic firearms.
Co-defendant, Joshua Michael Govea, whose role in the robbery was to detain the store workers at gunpoint, pleaded guilty to the robbery conspiracy and brandishing charges. He was sentenced to nine years last week. Two other co-defendants, Cesar Alan Garcia and Sebastian Louis Xavier Suarez, are pending trial and remain in custody.