3 indicted in straw purchase of gun linked to slaying

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By North Carolina Lawyers Weekly Staff

Federal grand jurors recently indicted three North Carolina residents in the straw purchase of a gun used in a homicide in February in Raleigh.

Charging documents say that the gun was one of two bought in straw purchases Jan. 20 at a gun show in Raleigh. One of the guns, a .40-caliber pistol, was used by another individual in a slaying Feb. 5 at 1308 Poole Road, Raleigh, a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of North Carolina says.

Ever Arroyo Gasga, 24, Anselmo Arroyo Gonzalez, 49, and Jimmy Arroyo Maldonado, 18, each face charges of aiding and abetting, conspiracy, and straw purchasing firearms, the release says.

Arroyo Gonzalez, who is prohibited from buying a weapon because he is a Mexican citizen in the United States illegally, faces additional charges of illegal reentry and possession of a firearm by an alien illegally and unlawfully in the United States. He was deported from the United States to Mexico in November 2016.

Maldonado, who is prohibited from legally purchasing firearms because he is under state indictment on felony charges, faces additional charges of possession of a firearm by a person under felony indictment and possession with the intent to distribute cocaine.

This case is being prosecuted under the Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, which was enacted in 2022, the release says.

Investigating the case are the FBI, Raleigh Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and Department of Homeland Security. Prosecuting the case are Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah E. Nokes and Charles E. Loeser.