TAMPA — A 30-year-old Puerto Rico man who purchased approximately 90 firearms from licensed dealers across the Middle District of Florida — falsely claiming each time he was the actual buyer — has been sentenced to five years and three months in federal prison.
U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington imposed the sentence on Esai Pastrana Cruz after he pleaded guilty on Feb. 19 to conspiring to and making false statements to federally licensed firearms dealers. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentencing.
According to court documents, Pastrana Cruz bought the firearms from various licensed dealers and falsely represented to each that he was the actual purchaser and recipient. At least 21 of the firearms were later seized by law enforcement agencies and traced back to purchases Pastrana Cruz had made. Among the recovered weapons, two had been associated with shootings, including a drive-by shooting in which two individuals were struck by gunfire.
Straw purchasing — buying a firearm on behalf of someone who is the true intended recipient — is a federal crime because it circumvents the background-check system designed to keep weapons out of the hands of prohibited persons. The scale of Pastrana Cruz’s operation, approximately 90 purchases, marks one of the larger straw-buying cases prosecuted in the Middle District in recent years.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case. Assistant United States Attorney Jeff Chang handled the prosecution.
The case falls under Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative that marshals federal resources to combat illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime. It is also part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DOJ’s cornerstone firearms-enforcement program.