A federal judge denied the request of an illegal alien living in Ohio to have his gun charges dismissed, after he was discovered with roughly 170 firearms in his possession.
Carlos Serrano-Restrepo was arrested in January by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for the illegal possession of firearms by an alien living unlawfully in the United States, reported WSYX, a local ABC affiliate.
After his initial arrest by the feds, the defendant, who had lived in the U.S. illegally for almost two decades, was indicted by a federal grand jury in July, according to court records.
Serrano-Restrepo, who moved to Orient, Ohio, in 2022 from Arizona, admitted to the court that he entered the country illegally from Colombia without authorization in April 2008 and claimed asylum.
The Department of Homeland Security has stated that his asylum application remains pending.
While executing their search warrant at Serrano-Restrepo's home in Ohio, federal agents seized “approximately 170 firearms, ammunition, and smoke/marine markers.”
The illegal alien somehow was also able to amass tens of thousands of rounds of ammunition and at least one 50 caliber Barrett anti-personnel rifle.
Pictures taken by federal agents, which were shared on X, showed several of the weapons that were seized at Serrano-Restrepo's home in Ohio.
Some of the firearms appear to be kept in various gun safes, while another photo shows multiple handguns in holsters mounted on the wall of a closet.
Serrano-Restrepo claims that he owns a business that remediates fire and flooding damage and that “some” of the guns in his possession are “for self-defense.”
His lawyer submitted a motion to dismiss the charges, claiming that Serrano-Restrepo had the right to bear arms under the Second Amendment.
However, Judge Edmund A. Sargus Jr. rejected that argument and denied the defendant's motion to dismiss the charge.
He ruled on Nov. 21 that “disarming unlawful immigrants like Mr. Serrano-Restrepo who have not sworn allegiance to the United States comports with the Nation’s history and tradition of firearm regulations" and that as an illegal alien, the defendant could not claim Second Amendment protection to dismiss the gun charges against him.
The judge stated that Second Amendment rights only apply to American citizens under the Constitution, despite the fact that the defendant has been living in the U.S. for over 15 years.
“Mr. Serrano-Restrepo’s as-applied challenge lacks merit,” the judge said and added that “the swearing of an oath of allegiance occurs through the naturalization process, not through his asylum application or his years of living in the United States."
The judge noted that the ATF began monitoring Serrano-Restrepo after he falsely claimed to be a U.S. citizen while filling out firearm paperwork numerous times in order to purchase at least 22 guns.
Following Sargus' ruling, Serrano-Restrepo's trial is expected to begin on January 21, 2025.
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