BIS Suspends Export Privileges for Illegal Weapons Exports, Evading North Korea Sanctions

The Bureau of Industry and Security this week suspended the export privileges of five people, including four for illegal exports of guns or ammunition and one person for illegally exporting services to North Korea.

Adriana Gabriela Guajardo-Cavazos of Tamaulipas, Mexico, was convicted Nov. 12, 2020, for smuggling and trying to smuggle one .243 caliber rifle, one .22 caliber rifle, one 12 gauge shotgun, one .223 caliber magazine and one .22 caliber magazine from the U.S. to Mexico, BIS said. Guajardo-Cavazos was sentenced to three years of “confinement,” three years of supervised release and a $100 assessment. BIS suspended Guajardo-Cavazos’s export privileges for seven years from the conviction date.

Colby Stephan Skolseg of Alberta, Canada, was convicted Sept. 10, 2020, of “knowingly and unlawfully” trying to export eight firearms from the United States to Canada, BIS said, and was sentenced to one year and one day in prison, one year of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $100 assessment. BIS suspended Skolseg’s export privileges for five years from the conviction date.

Juan Antonio Cepeda of Laredo, Texas, was convicted March 25, 2021, of smuggling and trying to smuggle firearms, ammunition and firearms magazines from the U.S. to Mexico. Cepeda was sentenced to 41 months “confinement,” three years of supervised release, a $100 assessment, and BIS suspended Cepeda’s export privileges for seven years from the conviction date.

Juan Marvin Garcia, an inmate at a Texas federal prison, was convicted Oct. 13, 2021, of smuggling about 12,800 rounds of 7.62 x 39mm ammunition, 150 rounds of 38 Special ammunition, 60 rounds of .223 caliber ammunition and one Stoeger Cougar 9 mm pistol from the U.S. to Mexico. Garcia was sentenced to three years of “confinement,” three years of supervised release and a $100 assessment. BIS suspended Garcia’s export privileges for seven years from the conviction date.

Virgil Griffith, an inmate at a Pennsylvania federal prison, was convicted April 12, 2022, for exporting services to North Korea without a license from the Treasury Department and “evading and avoiding U.S. sanctions on North Korea.” Griffith was sentenced to 63 months “confinement,” three years of supervised release, a $100 assessment and a $100,000 criminal fine. BIS suspended Griffith’s export privileges for 10 years from the conviction date.