An Olathe, Kansas man has pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing 41 firearms from a Raytown, Missouri gun store and transporting child pornography into the United States from Mexico. Frank Guereca, 23, entered his plea before U.S. District Judge Roseann A. Ketchmark.
Guereca admitted to one count of stealing firearms from a federally licensed dealer and one count of transportation of child pornography. According to court documents, on June 16, 2023, Guereca and two others used a stolen U-Haul truck to break into the Raytown gun store by ramming it into the front of the building. They then entered through the opening and took 41 firearms.
Authorities have recovered some of the stolen weapons in different locations: one pistol was found in Tracy, California on November 14, 2023; another in Chihuahua, Mexico on December 19, 2023; and a third in Juarez, Mexico on February 6, 2024.
Guereca was arrested April 25, 2024 while trying to cross back into the United States from Mexico. Law enforcement seized his Samsung Galaxy cell phone at that time. After obtaining a federal search warrant for the device’s contents, investigators found approximately 250 images and 70 videos depicting child pornography that Guereca had brought with him into the country.
U.S. Customs and Border Protection records show that Guereca crossed the border about twenty times after the burglary occurred on June 16, 2023.
Federal law allows for up to ten years in prison without parole for firearm theft and up to twenty years without parole for transporting child pornography. The actual sentence will be determined by the court after reviewing advisory sentencing guidelines and other factors during a future hearing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Alison D. Dunning are prosecuting this case following investigations by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and Raytown Police Department.
The case is part of Operation Take Back America—a national effort led by the Department of Justice aiming to combat illegal immigration as well as organized crime groups while protecting communities from violent offenders—by coordinating resources through Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).
