TAMPA, Fla. — A Guatemalan national has pleaded guilty to conspiracy, firearms trafficking, dealing in firearms without a license, and possessing firearms as an illegal present noncitizen following an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) Tampa.
Ricardo Fermin Sune-Giron, 34, of Guatemala, faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison for the conspiracy and each possession offense. He faces up to 5 years imprisonment for dealing in firearms without a license. A sentencing date has not yet been scheduled.
According to the plea agreement, between 2023 and April 2024, Sune-Giron was a member of a transnational firearms trafficking operation. Sune-Giron recruited straw purchasers to illegally buy firearms — including Glocks, rifles and AK-47s — from federal firearms licensees across Florida. After purchasing the firearms, Sune-Giron and co-conspirators smuggled them overseas, including to the Dominican Republic and Haiti. Between 2023 and 2024, Sune-Giron and his co-conspirators trafficked thousands of firearms. Several were later recovered at crime scenes.
On April 18, 2024, agents from HSI Tampa and Orlando, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives executed three coordinated search warrants at residences in the Orlando area. At Sune-Giron’s residence, agents recovered more than 50 firearms, ammunition, money counters, and approximately $16,000 in U.S. currency. At the time of the search, Sune-Giron had been living in the United States illegally under an assumed name.
This case was investigated by HSI Tampa, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, and the Osceola County Sheriff’s Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Diego F. Novaes and Noah P. Dorman.
HSI is charged with combating emerging and existing transnational criminal organizations (TCO) threats by employing the full range of federal, state, local, tribal, and international law enforcement authorities, and resources in the fight to identify, investigate, disrupt, and dismantle these organizations at every level of operation. These TCOs require a steady supply of firearms and ammunition to assert control over the territory where they operate, eliminate rival criminal organizations, and resist government operations.
HSI is focused on disrupting the illicit flow of firearms, firearms components, and ammunition from the United States to other countries. HSI special agents investigate individuals and criminal organizations that are responsible for the financing, procurement, brokering, transportation, and dissemination of firearms in support of TCOs. These efforts take weapons off the streets of our communities and prevent the smuggling of U.S. arms to other countries where they can be used to commit acts of violence. In addition to small arms and ammunition, HSI also utilizes its customs authorities to prevent the illegal export of arms and strategic weapons systems to state actors and terrorist groups around the world.
HSI Tampa’s area of responsibility, which includes 10 geographically strategic offices, covers more than 51,600 square miles of the total 65,757 square miles in the state of Florida. This region has more than 14.2 million people and includes 58 of the 67 counties. HSI Tampa also includes five of the 10 largest cities in Florida, 15 primary commercial service airports, and 11 seaports.
Learn more about HSI Tampa’s mission to increase public safety in Florida communities on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @HSITampa.