PLANT CITY, Fla. – A 24-year-old Plant City man will spend the next two and a half years in federal prison after being caught with a modified handgun capable of fully automatic fire.
U.S. District Judge Sheri Polster Chappell handed down the 30-month sentence to Alex Cruz following his March 3, 2026, guilty plea for possessing a machine gun. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentencing on Tuesday.
The case stems from a February 2025 traffic stop in Hendry County. Deputies pulled over a vehicle carrying Cruz and three other individuals. During the stop, investigators discovered a 10mm Glock handgun stashed in a seatback pocket directly in front of Cruz.
The weapon was equipped with a machine gun conversion device, commonly known as a “switch,” which alters a semi-automatic firearm to fire continuously with a single pull of the trigger. Under federal law, these conversion devices are classified as machine guns.
Court documents reveal that forensic testing linked Cruz’s DNA to the firearm. Authorities also noted that Cruz later made statements admitting he knew the handgun had been modified into a machine gun.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) spearheaded the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Benjamin S. Winter prosecuted the case.
The prosecution was handled as part of Operation Take Back America, a broader, nationwide Department of Justice initiative. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the initiative “marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.”
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