Chicago man sentenced after taking five guns into Mexico
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Five guns and more than 1,700 rounds of ammunition taken into Mexico became part of the account federal prosecutors presented after a Chicago man’s sentencing. For Diego Valdez, the case had reached a three-year prison sentence. For another person named in the announcement, the legal position was different.
Valdez, 26, was sentenced on September 8 after pleading guilty to unlawfully receiving a firearm, according to a September 15 release from the US Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Illinois.
The Mexico connection
Prosecutors said Valdez transported five firearms and more than 1,700 ammunition rounds into Mexico. Mexican police stopped him and others in December 2025 while they were traveling to Michoacán, the release said.
That reported stop forms the Mexico portion of an announcement issued by federal prosecutors in Chicago. The prison term described in the release followed Valdez’s guilty plea to the firearm-receipt offense. The broader account of the weapons’ movement supplies context for that case.
The dates mark separate developments: the stop in December 2025, the sentence on September 8, 2026, and the public announcement on September 15. A later headline about the case does not change when the reported events occurred.
A second name, a separate case status
The announcement also named Chicago police officer Kevin Rodriguez. Prosecutors alleged that Rodriguez purchased two of the firearms for Valdez.
According to the September 15 release, Rodriguez had pleaded not guilty. The announcement listed a change-of-plea hearing for October 27, 2026. A hearing on the calendar is not a completed plea, and the release did not report that such a change had already happened.
Valdez’s sentence therefore cannot be treated as a finding of guilt against Rodriguez. One man’s completed sentencing and allegations concerning another person occupy different places in the proceedings.
What the sentence establishes
The reported outcome for Valdez is specific: a three-year federal prison term following his guilty plea. The allegations concerning Rodriguez remain attributed to the prosecution, with his status described as it appeared in the dated announcement.
This account draws on the prosecutor’s release rather than an independent review of the underlying court documents. Any later plea or ruling in the separate proceedings would require its own update.
Sources
- US Attorney’s Office, Northern District of Illinois — 2026-09-15
Prepared for publication September 21, 2026.