FOX31 Denver

Former Fort Carson soldier gets 3 years for smuggling guns to Dominican Republic

DENVER — A former Fort Carson soldier convicted of smuggling guns to the Dominican Republic has been sentenced to three years in federal prison.

Katherine O’Neal was sentenced Thursday and will be supervised for three years after she is released.

Prosecutors say the 43-year-old tried to fly to the Caribbean nation in June 2015 with 11 guns she bought in Denver and Colorado Springs.

She declared the firearms to the airline but didn’t get the required export license from the State Department.

Her bags were sent to the wrong place by the airline, and when they arrived later, Dominican officials found the weapons. O’Neal was arrested when she arrived at the airport to claim her luggage.

The Dominican Republic bans the import of firearms.