A 24-year-old man from Los Angeles County was sentenced to a little more than 10 years in federal prison for his role in the armed robbery of a confidential informant and the operation of an unlicensed firearm dealing business, officials announced Monday.
In a U.S. Department of Justice news release , prosecutors said Salvador Lopez, a resident of Whittier, helped sell at least 15 illegal firearms, some of which were “ghost guns” lacking serial numbers, to federal agents and their informants.
At one point, the 24-year-old had also agreed to another firearms deal with a confidential federal informant, but instead of following through, he messaged a minor with instructions to rob the informant.
“The minor and his accomplices not only robbed the informant of $5,000, but they also robbed the informant’s personal cellphone and vehicle,” prosecutors said. “Lopez then received a cut of the robbery’s proceeds.”
Lopez, as well as the three other defendants in the case – Ivan Quintos, 27, of Azusa, and Mark Perez, 23, and Zachary Dry, 24, both residents of Nevada – pleaded guilty to federal criminal charges in Oct. 2024.