Middle District Of Florida Prosecutors Indict 74 Firearms And Violent Crime Defendants During Second Quarter Of 2025 As Part Of Project Safe Neighborhoods Strategy

Tampa, FL – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced today the results of the second quarter of fiscal year 2025 Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) strategy. During the second quarter of fiscal year 2025, ending on March 31, 2025, the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida has charged 74 individuals. These individuals face federal firearms, narcotics, and violent crime charges. Law enforcement seized more than 195 firearms associated with these cases.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office also engaged in more than 20 outreach events focused on PSN and prevention of crime. Members of the office spoke with hundreds of students as part of outreach efforts during the second quarter of 2025.  Prosecutors also spoke to more than 150 recently released individuals at the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office DISMAS program at the Jacksonville Bridge Community Release Center and over 50 inmates scheduled for release from Baker Re-Entry Center. 

“Combating violent crime is a top priority of our office,” said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe. “We will continue our commitment to reduce crime by working closely with our public safety partners to vigorously investigate and prosecute those who violate the law and positively engage with our citizens throughout the district.”

PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. This evidence-based program has proven to be effective at reducing violent crime by engaging a broad spectrum of stakeholders working together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in communities and developing comprehensive solutions that reduce crime. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses on prevention and intervention efforts through community engagement and problem-solving partnerships, strategic enforcement of the most violent offenders, and locally based re-entry programs to reduce recidivism.

Q2 PSN case highlights:

United States v. Carl Thompson (Ft. Myers)

In January 2025, Carl Samuel Thompson, Jr. was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a previously convicted felon. According to court records, on April 7, 2024, a vehicle being driven by Thompson was pulled over by deputies from the Lee County Sheriff’s Office for a traffic infraction. During the traffic stop, deputies discovered that Thompson’s front seat passenger was concealing a loaded firearm, which was secured by the deputies during the traffic stop. A subsequent investigation revealed that Thompson, who had an active warrant for his arrest, had provided the firearm to his passenger to conceal after realizing he was being pulled over. As a career criminal with more than 10 prior felony convictions, Thompson qualified for an enhanced sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. 

United States v. Avery Fuller et al (Jacksonville)

In February 2025, Avery Fuller was sentenced to 19 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robberies in New Jersey and Florida, and for brandishing a firearm during the robberies. According to court documents, Fuller and his co-conspirators planned and executed a series of jewelry store robberies in New Jersey, Florida, and the District of Columbia. Based in the Washington, D.C. area, the group targeted predominantly South Asian jewelry stores along the East Coast. Wearing disguises and armed with firearms, they used hammers to smash jewelry display cases and steal valuable items.

United States v. Jose G. Medina (Ocala)

On March 5, 2025, Jose G. Medina pleaded guilty to three counts of making a materially false statement in connection with the acquisition of a firearm, and three counts of causing a Federal Firearm Licensee (“FFL”) to maintain false information in its official records. According to court records, between January 1 and December 31, 2023, Medina straw-purchased multiple firearms for others. Some of these firearms were intercepted by the United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) as others attempted to transport them across the United States’ border into Mexico.

United States v. Victor Manuel LaFontaine Ruiz et al (Orlando)

In February 2025, Victor Manuel LaFontaine Ruiz, Jose Emanuel Maldonado Rodriguez, Freddie Geovani Cruz Batiz, Jomar Manuel Lopez, Montanez, Derrick Yamil Rivera Robles, Leonardo David Joseph Guerra, and Jincheng Shi were charged for their alleged roles in a gun trafficking operation. According to court documents, from at least as early as September 2023 onward, Lafontaine and Maldonado operated a gun trafficking ring involving hundreds of firearms, machineguns, machinegun conversion devices, and high-capacity magazines needed for fully automatic weapons. Lafontaine and Maldonado allegedly assembled, manufactured, and modified semi-automatic and automatic firearms using a “ghost gunner” machine and specialized “endmill” drilling devices. They sold those items to illegal aliens and convicted felons such as Lopez Montanez, Rivera Robles, and Joseph Guerra, who were often brokering such transactions on behalf of other unknown customers.

United States v. Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron (Tampa)

In March 2025, Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron was sentenced 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 plea agreement, between 2023 and April 2024, Sune-Giron was a member of a large-scale firearms trafficking operation. He recruited individuals to illegally buy firearms—including Glocks, rifles and AK-47s—from Federal Firearms Licensees 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. During the execution of search warrants, 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.

These cases are being prosecuted by the Assistant United States Attorneys in all five divisions throughout the Middle District of Florida.  For additional information on Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit our website: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mdfl/project-safe-neighborhoods-0.