Man sentenced to 16 years in prison for robbing pawn shop, selling stolen guns online

A San Antonio man was sentenced to 16 years in federal prison for stealing guns from a pawn shop and then selling them on social media.

According to court documents, Antonio Hinojosa Jr., 21, and three other men planned the robbery in a social media chat room.

The men wore gloves, masks and dark clothing when they robbed the store on May 18, 2023, and threatened store employees while brandishing guns, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District from Texas.

The suspects stole 14 guns and jewelry worth more than $8,600 before fleeing in a getaway truck, the news release states.

After the robbery, Hinojosa posted photos of the stolen firearms on social media to advertise and sell them to his contacts, according to court documents.

Hinojosa was arrested on June 26, 2023. He pleaded guilty on March 7 to one count of conspiracy to commit robbery under the Hobbs Act, one count of brandishing a weapon firearm during and in connection with a crime of violence and one count of conspiracy to traffic in firearms. .

Co-defendant Joshua Michael Govea, whose role in the robbery was to arrest store employees at gunpoint, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to rob and leveled charges. He was sentenced to nine years in prison last week. Two other co-defendants, Cesar Alan Garcia and Sebastian Louis Xavier Suarez, are awaiting trial and remain in custody.