Three more men from Texas recently pleaded guilty in federal court to stealing 654 firearms from United Parcel Service trailers in Springfield, Mo., en route to Bass Pro Shops.

The U.S. Attorney's Office says that 36-year old Raynord Hunt, of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty Friday  to the charges contained in a Feb. 21, 2018, federal indictment. Co-defendants 27-year old Eric White, 27, of Arlington, Texas, and 33-year old Derrick White, of Dallas, pleaded guilty to the same charges in January.

Three others have already pleaded guilty to the same charges, including 34-year old Frank McChriston and 29-year old Keith Lowe, both of Dallas, along with 27-year old Quinton Haywood, of Glenn Heights, Texas.

By pleading guilty, all six defendants admitted they aided and abetted each other to steal cargo that was being shipped across state lines, from Beretta USA in Maryland to the state of Missouri. They also pleaded guilty to aiding and abetting each other to possess stolen firearms.

According to court documents, the defendants stole 600 Beretta .380-caliber handguns and 54 Beretta 12-gauge shotguns from UPS trailers in Springfield, MO in October 2017.

The firearms were in the process of being shipped from Beretta Firearms in Maryland to Bass Pro Shops in Springfield. The trailers in which the firearms were shipped had been parked in the UPS freight lot in a configuration to prevent access to the trailer doors, by being parked back-to-back, with the roll-up doors facing each other. The trailers were then blocked by longer trailers, which was a preventative measure from someone backing a truck-tractor to the trailer and pulling it forward.

Sometime between Oct. 28 and Oct. 29, 2017, thieves reportedly hot-wired two truck-tractors and used them to push and pull various trailers around the lot, allowing the thieves access to the trailer doors. UPS employees discovered the theft on Oct. 29 and notified law enforcement.

Under federal statutes, each of the defendants is subject to a sentence of up to 20 years in federal prison without parole. A sentencing hearing will be scheduled after the completion of a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

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