A Phoenix man was sentenced to 40 months in prison for transporting illegal immigrants and posessession of a gun by a prohibited person.

John Edward Crenshaw, 40, will also have three years of supervised release. He pleaded guilty on Jan. 19.

The conviction relates to an incident on March 3, 2022, when Crenshaw came to a U.S. Border Patrol checkpoint driving a Ford Fusion erratically.

After he stopped, Border Patrol agents discovered he was transporting five passengers, who were determined to be undocumented noncitizens that Crenshaw was smuggling further into the country.

Four of the passengers were in the rear of the vehicle, which did not have seats or seat belts.

Crenshaw was in possession of a knife and a loaded .380-caliber pistol. He was later determined to be a convicted felon who could not legally possess a firearm.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation and U.S. Border Patrol conducted the investigation in this case. The United States Attorney’s Office, District of Arizona, Tucson, handled the prosecution.