TAMPA — U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron, 34, to 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to traffic in firearms, gun trafficking, dealing in firearms without a license and possessing firearms as an illegal alien, according to the office of Acting U.S. Attorney Sara C. Sweeney of the Middle District of Florida.
The court also ordered Sune-Giron to forfeit all the firearms and ammunition seized from his residence. Sune-Giron pleaded guilty on Dec. 11, 2024.
According to the plea agreement, between 2023 and April 2024, Sune-Giron was a member of a large-scale firearms trafficking operation. He recruited individuals, known as “straw purchasers,” to illegally buy firearms — including Glocks, rifles and AK-47s — from licensed federal firearms dealers across Florida. After obtaining the firearms, Sune-Giron and his co-conspirators smuggled them overseas, shipping them to countries including the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Between 2023 and 2024, Sune-Giron and his co-conspirators trafficked more than 1,000 firearms. Several of these firearms were later recovered at crime scenes.
On April 18, 2024, ATF and HSI agents in Tampa and Orlando executed three coordinated search warrants at three residences in the Orlando area, including Sune-Giron’s residence. Agents recovered approximately 57 firearms, 30 empty gun boxes, approximately $16,000 in cash, ammunition and money counters.
At the time of the search, Sune-Giron was living in the United States illegally under an assumed name.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Diego F. Novaes and Noah P. Dorman.
