Orlando, Florida – U.S. District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. has sentenced Kimberly Carnell White, Jr. (28, Orlando) and James Romando Harris, II (28, Orlando) to 72 months and 84 months in prison, respectively, for possession of firearms by convicted felons. Both White and Harris pleaded guilty on August 24, 2016.
According to court documents, a federally licensed firearms dealer in Marion County was burglarized during the morning of May 5, 2016. Later that day, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) received information that White had several firearms to sell from a location he claimed to have “hit.” That same day, undercover agents from the Orange County Sheriff’s Office (OCSO) purchased five firearms from White and Harris. The serial numbers of those firearms matched those of the firearms that had been stolen from the licensed dealer. Both White and Harris have prior felony convictions and are therefore prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition under federal law.
On May 13, 2016, the OCSO, the ATF, and the Orlando Police Department executed federal search warrants at the Orlando residences where the undercover transactions had been conducted, and where other firearms had been seen. During the execution of those warrants, law enforcement recovered seven firearms from one residence and four firearms from the other residence. Of those 4 firearms, four had serial numbers matching those of the firearms reported stolen from the federally licensed dealer. In total, investigators seized 16 firearms, including 9 that had been reported stolen from the firearms dealer.
These arrests were the result of a multi-agency investigation focused on the recovery of the firearms. This case was investigated by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the Orlando Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff’s Office, the Belleview Police Department, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean P. Shecter.
This is another case prosecuted as part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program – a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. Unites States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Daryl R. McCrary, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials.