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ORLANDO, Fla. - A former St. Cloud police officer has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for illegally dealing firearms, including weapons later linked to an international smuggling operation.
What we know:
Former St. Cloud police officer Michael Adrian Nieto, 31, has been sentenced to three years in federal prison after admitting to dealing firearms without a license. Prosecutors said he purchased and resold at least 58 guns over two years, some of which ended up in an international smuggling ring tied to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico and Haiti.
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What we don't know:
Authorities have not publicly detailed how many of the firearms Nieto sold were ultimately recovered, nor whether any of them were linked to violent crimes in the U.S. or abroad. It also remains unclear how long Nieto had been cooperating with or supplying the conspiracy before federal investigators intervened.
The backstory:
Prosecutors argued that Nieto misused his position as a sworn officer by accessing confidential police databases to provide information to conspirator Ernesto Vazquez.
In exchange, he received illegal items, including a machine gun conversion device. His arrest came after federal agents executed a search warrant at his home in October 2024, where they seized 12 firearms. Vazquez, identified as a key figure in the trafficking network, had already been sentenced to 11 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and prosecuted as part of the Justice Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods program.
What's next:
Vazquez was sentenced earlier to 11 years in prison after pleading guilty to conspiracy to traffic firearms.
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The Source: This story was written based on information shared by the United States Attorney's Office for the Middle District of Florida.