Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Carlos E. Mendoza has sentenced Yunis Isaac Mejia (28, St. Cloud) to 21 months in federal prison for possessing an unregistered short-barreled rifle. Mejia had pleaded guilty on January 28, 2022.
According to evidence admitted during the sentencing hearing, Mejia illegally modified a CZ Scorpion EVO 3 S1 pistol, with a barrel less than 16 inches long, with an aftermarket shoulder stock. With this modification, Mejia illegally converted the pistol into a short-barreled rifle. Under the federal National Firearms Act, short-barreled rifles are required to be registered.
Mejia then offered to sell his illegally modified firearm to an confidential source working at the direction of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Mejia also provided direction and instruction to the confidential source on how the confidential source could purchase the same model of pistol and modify it himself.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shawn P. Napier.
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.