Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven has sentenced Christian Agosto (22, Brandon) to four years and three months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon. Agosto had pleaded guilty on December 15, 2021.
According to court documents, Agosto, a convicted felon, held and displayed an assault rifle during an Instagram live video on July 22, 2021. Agosto was on community control at the time of the video and was being supervised by the Florida Department of Corrections. On July 28, 2021, Agosto’s probation officer and other law enforcement officers searched Agosto’s residence and recovered a Ruger AR-556 rifle, loaded with ammunition, from inside a closet. The firearm matched the rifle Agosto had displayed during the Instagram live video.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Tampa Police Department, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, and the Florida Department of Corrections. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sinacore.
This case is being prosecuted as part of the joint federal, state, and local Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) Program, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.