Handgun and Ammo Source: Unsplash A Florida couple has been sentenced to federal prison for dealing in firearms without a license, making a materi
A Florida couple has been sentenced to federal prison for dealing in firearms without a license, making a materially false statement to a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL), and causing an FFL to maintain false information in its official records.
Kingsley Wilson, 35, Kissimmee, was sentenced to 3 years and 10 months in federal prison, and his partner, Viviana Rodriguez, 41, Kissimmee, was sentenced to 2 years and 6 months.
According to evidence presented in court, between January 2022 and July 2023, Wilson purchased 92 firearms from multiple gun dealers in the Middle District of Florida. Rodriguez, Wilson’s girlfriend, purchased an additional 48 firearms during that same period.
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While purchasing the firearms, Wilson and Rodriguez each falsely certified on ATF Form 4473s (Firearm Transaction Records) that he or she was the “actual transferee/buyer” of the firearms.
According to the Department of Justice, Wilson and Rodriguez purchased these firearms for others in exchange for monetary payments. Wilson’s cellphone revealed numerous conversations between Wilson and others, including Rodriguez, about the illegal purchases and transfer of these firearms.
To date, 24 of the firearms purchased by Wilson and Rodriguez have been recovered by law enforcement at crime scenes involving drug trafficking, illegal firearm possession by felons, shootings, and homicides.
Of the 24 recovered firearms, 12 were found in The Bahamas and another 12 in Canada. This firearms trafficking prosecution was made possible, in part, by firearms tracing conducted in cooperation with the Royal Bahamas Police Force, the Ontario Provincial Police, and ATF’s International Affairs Division.
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“Gun traffickers are the purveyors of violent crime,” said ATF Tampa Field Division Special Agent in Charge Kirk Howard. “Our investigators immediately stopped the illegal flow of crime guns to neighboring countries and then worked with partners to bring two conniving suspects to justice.”
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office, the Lake County Sheriff’s Office, and the Royal Bahamas Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sarah Janette Swartzberg.
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