Florida-To-Puerto Rico Gun Smuggling Ringleader Guilty

The leader of a ring that smuggled hundreds of guns from Florida and sold them to street gangs in Puerto Rico pleaded guilty this morning to federal firearms crimes.

Melvin Omar Velez-Santos, 29, and three other people entered guilty pleas, capping the prosecution of 15 people in the smuggling ring. All but two defendants have pleaded guilty. The two are awaiting trial in an Ohio death penalty case, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Eduardo Toro-Font.

The ring purchased guns from legitimate gun dealers in Florida from 2004 through 2007 and then shipped them to Puerto Rico disguised as other items, according to court documents.

Florida is one of the top states in the nation for the illegal export of guns, according to the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, which investigated this case. In Florida in 2007, based on law enforcement records, Tampa was rated fourth among sources of illegal guns used in crimes.

The participants in the gun ring purchased firearms on behalf of Velez-Santos from 25 gun 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 - while falsely claiming they were for personal use.

Velez-Santos would send cocaine from Puerto Rico to a conspirator in Florida in exchange for the guns.

"The majority of the firearms were AK-47 type rifles," according to government court filings.

Veloz-Santos pleaded guilty to conspiracy and two counts of making a false statement to a firearms dealer. Conspiracy carries a maximum sentence of five years in federal prison; the other charge carries up to 10 years in prison.

Also pleading guilty to conspiracy today were Hilton Adorno-Rosario, 29, Marilyn Quinones-Burgos, 29, and Myrna Melendez, 55.

Adorno-Rosario also pleaded guilty to six counts of making a false statement to a firearms dealer.

Toro-Font said after the hearing that the guilty pleas were the result of the hard work done by ATF agents. He said U.S. Attorney Robert O'Neill is taking this kind of crime seriously and will prosecute other cases.