PHOENIX (AP) -
A new sentencing date has been set for a man who admitted being a straw buyer for a gun smuggling ring that was monitored in the government's botched investigation known as Operation Fast and Furious.
Sentencing for Jonathan Earvin Fernandez was changed from Dec. 12 to Dec. 10.
Fernandez pleaded guilty in May to a federal conspiracy charge and faces up to five years in prison.
He admitted that he bought 49 guns for the ring and that he falsely claimed that the weapons he bought were for him when they were actually purchased for the ring.
Federal authorities faced criticism for allowing suspected straw buyers to walk from shops with guns, rather than arrest suspects and seize the guns there.
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