BOSTON, Massachusetts — A Boston man has been sentenced to eight months in federal prison for illegally sending firearms between the United States and the Dominican Republic, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts

Alexis Lara Herrera, 28, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV to eight months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. The Justice Department said Herrera is subject to deportation. He pleaded guilty in May 2026 to failure to file export information.

Mass Daily News independently reported the same sentence on October 26, noting that the manifest for the container said household goods and that Herrera now faces deportation after the prison term.

Source: Mass Daily News (Oct. 26, 2026)

Guns found inside an air conditioner

On or about March 18, 2023, law enforcement at the Port of Haina in the Dominican Republic searched international freight and opened a shipping container from Brooklyn, New York, whose manifest said it contained household goods, prosecutors said. Inside an air conditioner in the container they found four Glock firearms and 500 rounds of ammunition.

Further investigation showed the container had originated in Boston, prosecutors said. All four Glock firearms came from federally licensed firearms dealers, according to the Justice Department.

Phone evidence and other shipments

Herrera was in communication with multiple co-conspirators throughout the shipment, prosecutors said. A search of his phone showed his engagement in firearms smuggling, including texts and a photo of multiple guns, the Justice Department said.

Evidence from the phone also indicated Herrera discussed numerous other shipments of firearms to the Dominican Republic, including one in June 2023 — after authorities had already seized the Haina shipment, prosecutors said. The announcement did not say whether that later shipment was found, and this report does not claim it was.

U.S. Attorney Leah B. Foley, Homeland Security Investigations in New England and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Boston Field Division announced the sentence, with assistance from the Boston Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Luke Goldworm prosecuted the case.