2 Tied to Illegal Ammo Export Get Probation
Two Paraguayans who pleaded guilty to illegally exporting ammunition in a scheme that originally involved Nancy Reagan’s maid were placed on five years’ probation Friday after receiving two-year suspended sentences.
U.S. District Judge Robert Merhige Jr. imposed the sentences on Julio Baez Acosta, the captain of a Paraguayan merchant ship, and Eugenio Silva, now a resident of Richmond. Silva also faces a deportation hearing.
The case attracted national attention when Nancy Reagan’s maid, Anita Castelo, was indicted for buying 10,000 rounds of 350,000 illegal rounds that Acosta and Silva attempted to smuggle out of the country. Those charges were dropped in September after her lawyers convinced federal authorities she had no knowledge of the illegal activity.
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