Four-Time Convicted Felon Sentenced To More Than Five Years In Prison For Possessing A Rifle, Ammunition, Machineguns, And Silencers

Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Wendy W. Berger has sentenced Lee Ann Roberts (43, Altamonte Springs) to 5 years and 11 months in in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon and possessing unregistered machineguns and silencers. The court also ordered Roberts to forfeit the firearm, machineguns, silencers, and ammunition involved in the offense. Roberts pleaded guilty on October 17, 2024.

According to court documents, officers and agents with the Altamonte Springs Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) received a tip that Roberts was selling firearms, machineguns, silencers, and grenade launcher parts out of a hotel room in Altamonte Springs. Law enforcement located Roberts and the vehicle in which she stored her firearms.

When officers searched the vehicle, they located a hunting rifle, two AR-platform receivers, three silencers, tactical gear, vests, magazines, and hundreds of rounds of assorted ammunition. The AR-platform receivers had been modified to allow fully automatic firing, making them machineguns under federal law.

(machinegun receivers and silencers recovered from Roberts’s vehicle)

Law enforcement also searched Roberts’s phone and found evidence that she had sold or attempted to sell several firearms, including many of the firearms which law enforcement had found in her car.

(image recovered from Roberts’s phone of firearms, magazines, and ammunition)

As a convicted felon, Roberts is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law. None of the machineguns or silencers were registered to Roberts in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record, as required under federal law.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Altamonte Springs Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard Varadan.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.