Source: United States Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco Firearms and Explosives (ATF)
Ocala, Florida – Acting United States Attorney Sara C. Sweeney announces that Jose G. Medina (49, Leesburg) has pleaded guilty to three counts of knowingly 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. Medina faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each false statement offense and up to 5 years’ imprisonment for each record-keeping offense. A sentencing date has not yet been set.
According to court records, between January 1 and December 31, 2023, Medina straw-purchased multiple firearms for other individuals. Some of these firearms were intercepted by the United States Custom and Border Patrol (CBP) as other individuals attempted to transport them across the border into Mexico.
On May 27, 2023, an individual was encountered by CBP as he tried to make entry into Mexico at the Eagle Pass (Texas) Port of Entry. He was attempting to bring 10 handguns, 9 rifles, 7 shotguns, 20 ammunition magazines, and large amounts of assorted ammunition into Mexico. The individual stated that he was traveling from Orlando to San Diego de la Union, Guanajuato, Mexico. Medina had purchased one of these recovered firearms nine days earlier.
Firearms and ammunition seized at the U.S. border on May 27, 2023.
On November 17, 2023, CBP officers stopped another individual at the Eagle Pass (Texas) Port of Entry who also was attempting to bring five firearms into Mexico. Medina had purchased two of these firearms less than two weeks earlier.
A record check by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) showed that between January 1 and December 31, 2023, Medina had purchased 82 firearms for a total of $42,085.61—an amount that exceeded his reported annual income. The investigation also revealed that another firearm purchased by an associate of Medina had recently been recovered and electronically traced by Mexican law enforcement using ATF’s e-Trace system.
This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Eustis Police Department, and the Lake County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.