Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

CAMDEN, N.J. – A Toms River, New Jersey, man today admitted his role in a conspiracy to smuggle more than $200,000 worth of firearms parts out of the United States, U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman announced.

Abelardo Delmundo, 53, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Noel L. Hillman in Camden federal court to an information charging him with one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and U.S. anti-smuggling laws.

According to the documents filed in this case, other cases and statements made in court: Delmundo admitted that from 2008 through October 2013, he and other conspirators he met through an internet forum agreed to ship firearms and firearms parts from the United States to the Philippines. Kirby Santos, 38, of the Republic of the Philippines and others allegedly used credit cards and other forms of payment to purchase firearms parts from suppliers in the United
States. Knowing that they would not ship to the Philippines, Santos and others arranged for the suppliers to send the firearms parts to Delmundo’s Toms River address in order to make it appear as if it were a domestic sale.

Delmundo also admitted that after receiving the firearms parts, he falsely labeled the contents of the package as food or other home goods and exported the firearms parts to the Philippines for ultimate delivery to the other conspirators. To disguise his role in the conspiracy, Delmundo used the alias “Teng Flores”when sending the packages containing prohibited items.

Upon receiving the firearms parts, Delmundo was paid through cash payments and wire transfers to Delmundo’s relatives in the Philippines.

During the course of the nearly five-year long conspiracy, Delmundo and others purchased and directed the unlawful exportation of more than $200,000 worth of defense articles from the United States to the Philippines without the required export license.

Santos is charged by criminal complaint with one count of conspiracy to violate the Arms Export Control Act and U.S. anti-smuggling laws. He made his initial appearance in Camden federal court on April 22, 2015 and was detained. The charges and allegations against Santos are merely accusations, and the defendant is considered innocent unless and until proven guilty.

The conspiracy charge to which Delmundo pleaded guilty is punishable by a maximum potential penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine. Sentencing is scheduled for Aug. 7, 2015.

The Arms Export Control Act prohibits the export of defense articles and defense services without first obtaining a license from the U.S. Department of State and is one of the principal export control laws in the United States.

U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations (DHS-HSI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Kevin Kelly, and special agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George P. Belsky Jr., with the investigation leading to today’s plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew T. Smith of the U.S. Attorney’s Office Criminal Division in Camden and Trial Attorney Nathan M. F. Charles of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.

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Defense counsel: David Schlendorf Esq., Toms River