LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — A man facing state charges in a Searcy shooting that left a juvenile driver paralyzed has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for firearms offenses and illegally reentering the United States after deportation.
Candelario Gameros-Ante, 47, of Mexico, was sentenced Sept. 23 by U.S. District Judge Brian S. Miller, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Arkansas. Miller also imposed two years of supervised release.
Gameros-Ante pleaded guilty May 6 to possessing firearms as a convicted felon, possessing firearms while unlawfully in the United States and illegal reentry after deportation. A federal grand jury indicted him on those charges June 3, 2025.
The federal investigation followed a May 10, 2025, shooting in Searcy. Officers responding to a vehicle crash found that the juvenile driver had been shot in the neck and paralyzed, according to prosecutors.
Officers found three shell casings in a nearby yard and arrested a man who identified himself as Edgar Gameros. A search of his residence under a warrant uncovered three firearms, including the weapon used in the shooting, prosecutors said.
A subsequent Drug Enforcement Administration investigation determined that the man arrested was Gameros-Ante, according to the release.
Gameros-Ante faces separate Arkansas charges of committing a terroristic act and first-degree battery related to the shooting. Those charges remain pending; the federal sentence concerns the firearms and reentry convictions.
Prosecutors said Gameros-Ante was previously deported to Mexico after a Jan. 7, 2004, felony conviction for conspiracy to possess methamphetamine with intent to deliver. He later returned to the United States illegally and used another person’s identity, according to the release.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case with assistance from the Searcy Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Jordan Crews prosecuted it.
The Justice Department designated the prosecution as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative focused on immigration enforcement, cartels, transnational criminal organizations and violent crime.
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