Three men arrested after federal agents say they bought 18 firearms at a central Kentucky festival and hauled them away in the bed of a pickup truck are now moving toward guilty pleas, court records show.
Damian Edel Hernandez-Cruz, Gregorio Rios-Cruz and Eduardo Rios-Cruz were indicted in November on federal firearms and immigration charges stemming from an October arrest in Montgomery County. All three initially pleaded not guilty, but prosecutors filed plea agreements this week for each defendant ahead of a scheduled January court appearance in Lexington.
According to court documents, agents were conducting surveillance at a festival when they watched the men purchase firearms from multiple vendors, load the weapons into a truck and leave the area. After a traffic stop, officers searched the vehicle with consent and found 18 firearms in the truck bed.
Hernandez-Cruz later told agents the group had traveled from Tennessee to buy the guns and said he personally purchased at least four of them, prosecutors said. Immigration records showed Hernandez-Cruz was in the United States illegally and had previously been removed from the country in 2019, according to the plea agreement.
Under the agreement, Hernandez-Cruz would plead guilty to unlawfully possessing a firearm as a non-citizen and to illegally reentering the United States after deportation. The charges carry a combined potential sentence of up to 17 years in prison, along with possible fines and supervised release.
The plea agreement also calls for forfeiture of property tied to the case, including a .22-caliber pistol, nearly $6,000 in cash, a 2007 Dodge Ram pickup truck and several firearm magazines.
Gregorio Rios-Cruz and Eduardo Rios-Cruz, who is also known as Joel Rios-Lopez, face related firearms charges. Prosecutors filed plea agreements for both men on Jan. 7, signaling the case is likely headed toward resolution without a jury trial.
All three defendants have required Spanish interpreters during court proceedings and remain in federal custody. A rearraignment and pretrial conference are scheduled for Jan. 13 before U.S. District Judge S. Chad Meredith in Lexington.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Francisco J. Villalobos II is prosecuting the case. Defense attorneys are Philip C. Lawson for Hernandez-Cruz, Adele Burt Brown for Gregorio Rios-Cruz, and Nicholas Albert Nash for Eduardo Rios-Cruz.
