A Puerto Rican man will spend more than five years in federal prison after executing a massive illegal gun-buying scheme across central Florida, federal officials announced.
U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington handed down a sentence of five years and three months to 30-year-old Esai Pastrana Cruz on Tuesday. The sentencing follows a February 19, 2026, guilty plea in which Pastrana Cruz admitted to conspiring to make and making false statements to a federally licensed firearms dealer.
U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe confirmed the details of the investigation, which revealed that Pastrana Cruz bought approximately 90 firearms from multiple licensed dealers throughout Central Florida.
During these transactions, he repeatedly signed paperwork claiming he was the actual buyer and recipient of the weapons, a practice commonly known as straw purchasing.
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Law enforcement agencies have since recovered and traced at least 21 of those specific firearms. According to court records, two of the seized weapons were linked to shootings, including a drive-by shooting that left two people wounded.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives handled the investigation, and Assistant United States Attorney Jeff Chang prosecuted the case.
The conviction falls under the umbrella of Operation Take Back America. Federal officials describe the program as a nationwide Department of Justice initiative designed to marshal resources to repel illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime.
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