CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — A Rock Hill, South Carolina man has been sentenced to 25 years in federal prison for orchestrating a firearms trafficking scheme from behind prison walls that supplied weapons to Mexican drug cartels.
Shawn Bisnauth, 38, pleaded guilty on May 7 to conspiracy to engage in straw purchases of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes. U.S. District Judge Nelva Gonzales Ramos handed down the 300-month sentence, which will be followed by five years of supervised release.
The sentence will run consecutively to the remainder of Bisnauth's existing state prison term.
Bisnauth directed the illegal operation from 2022 through 2024 while serving time in a South Carolina state prison. Using a contraband cell phone, he coordinated the purchase and transportation of firearms that ended up in the hands of cartel members in Mexico.
The court found Bisnauth responsible for placing firearms directly into the hands of cartel members.
Law enforcement agencies began investigating Bisnauth in early 2023 after identifying him as a major firearms supplier to a drug trafficking organization. That criminal network was responsible for importing methamphetamine, cocaine, and fentanyl from Mexican cartels for distribution throughout the United States.
Bisnauth arranged for accomplices in South Carolina to make straw purchases of at least 8 firearms, including .50 caliber rifles and semiautomatic machine guns. Those weapons were then transported to Texas, where they were exchanged with the drug trafficking organization for narcotics. The drugs were subsequently distributed back in South Carolina.
Straw purchasing involves the illegal acquisition of firearms by one person on behalf of another who is prohibited from purchasing weapons themselves.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ashley Martin and Tyler Foster. Bisnauth will remain in custody pending his transfer to a Federal Bureau of Prisons facility.
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