South Florida International Firearms Smuggler Sentenced to Almost 20 Years in Federal Prison

Miami, Florida – A Delray Beach, Florida man who fueled an international firearms smuggling ring with guns he illegally purchased at South Florida gun shows through straw buyers has been sentenced to 200 months in federal prison.

Mackenzie Delmas, 27, pled guilty in May 2021 to numerous federal offenses, including conspiracy, firearms smuggling, straw purchasing of firearms, possession of firearms by a convicted felon, and possession with intent to distribute MDMA.

Delmas was a convicted felon during the conspiracy, which operated from about 2018 to 2019. Unable to buy firearms himself due to his prior conviction, Delmas deployed straw buyers to gun shows throughout South Florida to buy firearms on his behalf. The straw buyers would falsely represent to the federally licensed firearms dealers at the shows that the firearms were for them, when in fact they were for Delmas. In a little over one year, Delmas obtained 25 firearms through straw buyers.  In September 2018, Canadian law enforcement intercepted some of these guns as they were being smuggled from New York to Canada.  In November 2019, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police seized another gun connected to Delmas during a criminal investigation. 

Delmas was one of seven defendants convicted and sentenced in the Southern District of Florida in this matter. Two additional defendants, Shalena Mary Haynes and Enza Esposito, are fugitives. 

Juan Antonio Gonzalez, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Christopher A. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Miami, announced the sentenced imposed by U.S. District Judge Roy K. Altman.   

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case, with assistance from numerous federal, local, and foreign agencies, including the Department of Justice, Antitrust Division (DOJ - ATR), the United States Secret Service (USSS), the Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Broward County Sheriff’s Office (BSO), the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office (PBSO), the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA), the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), the Service de police de la Ville de Montréal (SPVM), the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP), the Toronto Police Service (TPS), and the Laboratoire de sciences judiciaires et de médecine légale (LSJML).

Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam McMichael and former DOJ Anti-Trust Trial Attorney, Paola Henry prosecuted the case.

You may find related court documents and information 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, under case number 19-cr-80045. 

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