North Lauderdale Resident Sentenced to Prison for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Possession of Cocaine
A North Lauderdale resident was sentenced today to more than six years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm and possession of cocaine.
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Ari C. Shapira, Special Agent in Charge, United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office and Gregory Tony, Sheriff, Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO), made the announcement.
Christopher Sergo Denis, 28, of North Lauderdale, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge James I. Cohn to 77 months in prison, to be followed by 3 years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 922(g)(1) and 924(a)(2) and a concurrent term of 12 months in prison, to be followed by 1 year of supervised release for possession of cocaine, in violation of Title 21, United States Code, Section 844 (Case No. 18-CR-60296).
According to the court record, including the agreed upon factual proffer, on September 15, 2018, Denis posted a video recording that he labeled “Wild Wild West” on Facebook as he was firing three firearms at a local gun range. A BSO detective discovered the Facebook posting and brought it to the attention of ATF. An ATF Special Agent viewed the Facebook posting, went to the gun range, and recovered evidence documenting Denis’s presence at the gun range as well as a video recording made by the gun range of Denis firing the firearms.
On October 18, 2018, an ATF Special Agent and BSO detectives arrested Denis outside a courtroom in the Broward County Courthouse in Fort Lauderdale when he arrived to attend a hearing in a pending state criminal case. In his pocket, Denis had a small container in which there were fourteen plastic zip-lock bags, each containing a small quantity of cocaine.
This case stems from Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN was reinvigorated in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.
U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of ATF and BSO in this matter. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney William T. Shockley.
Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or at http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
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