An illegal immigrant from Mexico has been sentenced in Kansas to three years in federal prison for possessing a firearm.

U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom says foreign nationals who are in the U.S. illegally are not permitted to possess firearms of any kind. He called the case against Guadalupe Rodriguez-Mendoza
another example of the federal government’s focus on criminal immigrants.

U.S. District Judge Eric Melgren handed down the sentence Wednesday.

Rodriguez-Mendoza, from the Mexican state of Sinaloa, pleaded guilty in June to possessing a loaded 9 mm handgun.

Authorities serving a state arrest warrant found the gun in his possession in 2009. He was indicted then on the federal firearm charge, but did not appear until April when he was found in Arizona facing federal charges for illegal re-entry after deportation.