A federal judge in Ohio turned down an illegal immigrant’s request to drop a gun charge. The man had been in the U.S. for more than 15 years, but the judge didn’t believe his claim that he had a right to bear arms.
WSYX reports that Carlos Serrano-Restrepo was charged earlier this year and then indicted for having a gun while illegally in the U.S.
Because Serrano-Restrepo bought at least 22 guns and said he was a U.S. citizen on the paperwork, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives started to look into him and keep an eye on him.
Agents searched his house and took about 170 guns, tens of thousands of rounds of ammo, and smoke/marine markers.
Some of the guns were bought for self-defense, Serrano-Restrepo said.
Agents took pictures of his home and saw that he kept guns in gun safes. There were also holsters for some weapons on the wall of a closet.
His lawyer asked for the charge to be dropped, saying that the suspect has the right to keep and bear guns under the Second Amendment.
Thursday, the judge turned down his request to throw out the charges. In his opinion, he said, “disarming illegal immigrants like Mr. Serrano-Restrepo who have not sworn allegiance to the United States is in line with the Nation’s history and tradition of gun regulations.”
The judge went on, “Mr. Serrano-Restrepo’s as-applied challenge lacks merit.” “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.”
His trial is set for January 21, 2025.
It was 2022 when Serrano-Restrepo moved from Arizona to Orient, Ohio. He told the court that the last time he came into the U.S. illegally was in 2008.
