Rene Huerta Jr.: Guesses Border Cops Will Forget the Secret Ammo-Holding Compartment In His Dashboard, Guesses Wrong

Hey, it's worth a shot.

But he dodged a huge bullet (ha HA!) in November 2010 when Customs and Border Protection inspected his car as it crossed over from Mexico to Brownsville. They found a secret compartment carved out of the dashboard perfectly designed to hold lots of AK-47 ammo, but it was empty.

Apparently thinking CBP wouldn't, say, make a note of the vehicle, Huerta returned a week later trying to get back to Mexico.

This time the compartment wasn't empty -- it held 6,825 rounds of 7.62 x 39 mm Yugoslavian ammunition.

"Huerta claimed he only possessed the vehicle for 30 minutes and denied knowing who owned the car," the U.S. Attorney's Office said today. "However, the government presented bridge crossing records and witnesses to prove Huerta had used the car on at least six prior occasions and only a week before his arrest had traveled in the same vehicle to each of the three Brownsville bridges."

Well, it was worth a try.

Huerta was sentenced to more than 11 years in a federal prison. He had a previous cocaine conviction, so he was also convicted of felon in possession of firearms.