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Gun Smugglers Get Prison Time

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By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune

Published: December 12, 2008

TAMPA - Five members of a ring that smuggled hundreds of guns from Florida for sale to street gangs in Puerto Rico received prison sentences this morning ranging from one to four years.

They join seven other members of the ring, who were sentenced last week to up to 14 years behind bars. One of the leaders of the ring, Melvin Omar Velez-Santos, 30, had his sentencing hearing postponed until next week.

His former girlfriend, Marilyn Quinones-Burgos, 30, was sentenced to a year in prison after Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Toro-Font asked U.S. District Judge Richard Lazzara that she had cooperated with investigators, helping them get evidence against Velez-Santos.

Quinones-Burgos went so far as to wear a wire so investigators could record her conversations with Velez-Santos, Toro-Font said. She later told Velez-Santos what she had done, but by then, it was too late to disrupt the investigation, the prosecutor said.

Defense attorneys said last week that two people who cooperated in the early stages of the investigation were killed in Puerto Rico.

Another defendant, Angel Colon, 46, came to court in a wheelchair because of a gunshot injury that severed his spinal cord. The judge and the prosecutor said Colon's actions put others in Puerto Rico in danger of suffering the same fate, or worse.

Colon was sentenced to 15 months, in addition to nine months he already served in Puerto Rico for related offenses.

Also sentenced today was Hilton Adorno-Rosario, 29, who Toro-Font said purchased at least 39 "AK-47-type" weapons for the ring. He also rented a hotel room occupied by others in the ring and where authorities found a cache of weapons and tools to remove serial numbers.

His attorney said he purchased 37 weapons and was a well-respected man in Puerto Rico who was used as a pawn by the ring when he ran into financial problems. He was sentenced to four years in prison.

Others sentenced today were Dwight Gabriel Avala, 30, who received 21 months in prison, and Pablo Jose Cavallo, 28, who received 30 months.

All but two of the 15 charged in the case have pleaded guilty to involvement in the ring that purchased guns from legitimate dealers in Florida from 2004 through 2007 and shipped them to Puerto Rico disguised as other items. The remaining two defendants are awaiting trial in an Ohio death penalty case.

Florida is one of the top states for the illegal export of guns, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated this case. In 2007, Tampa ranked fourth statewide among sources of illegal guns used in crimes.

The gun ring participants purchased firearms from 25 dealers in places including Tampa, Port Richey, New Port Richey, Hudson, Palm Harbor and Spring Hill. They bought as many as 20 guns in a day – eight from a single dealer – claiming they were for personal use.

Most of the firearms were "AK-47 type rifles," records state.

Reporter Elaine Silvestrini can be reached at (813) 259-7837.

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