LEXINGTON, Ky. — Federal agents say three men accused of being in the U.S. illegally were caught leaving the Mount Sterling Court Days festival with trash bags full of rifles and handguns, leading to their arrests on federal firearm charges.
According to an affidavit filed Sunday by an ATF Special Agent, the arrests took place October 17 during the annual Court Day Festival in downtown Mount Sterling — a bustling open-air market where vendors often sell antiques and firearms. Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Mount Sterling Police Department, and the Gateway Area Drug Task Force were conducting surveillance when they spotted three men repeatedly carrying guns back to a black Dodge pickup with Tennessee plates.
Agents say the men — identified as Eduardo Rios-Cruz, Damian Hernandez-Cruz, and Gregorio Rios-Cruz — appeared to be concealing the weapons in trash bags in the truck bed. Officers later stopped the vehicle on East Locust Street for a seat-belt violation and found 18 firearms hidden under a toolbox, including three pistols and 15 rifles, the affidavit states…