Man sentenced to prison for supplying kids in Tampa with guns

Man sentenced for selling guns to kids

Kylie Jones reports.

TAMPA, Fla. - A man has been sentenced to prison for supplying guns to juveniles in Tampa.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Florida says on eight occasions, Gabriel Gladman, 23, made false statements to licensed firearms dealers to buy guns.

"And on six of those, we were able to charge him with transferring those firearms to juveniles," U.S. Attorney Roger Handberg said.

In some cases, the U.S. Attorney’s Office says the juveniles used those guns to commit violent crimes in Tampa.

Advocates who work to combat gun violence in Hillsborough County say the straw purchasing of guns for kids and teens is another growing problem.

"It turns my stomach," Safe & Sound Hillsborough’s Executive Director Freddy Barton said. "You know, if you're making decisions that affect you, that's one thing as an adult. But now, you're involving kids. And we all know that this is a big issue."

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Handberg says the investigation began with the Tampa Police Department.

"And they found evidence of someone who was boasting of having a gun that they shouldn't have had," Handberg said. "And one thing led to another, and what it led to was a social media account of Gabriel Gladman."

Investigators say the guns started turning up in different incidents.

"They would do a traffic stop, and they would find a felon with a firearm or they would find a juvenile, or they would find a car that was connected to a robbery, and they would find one of these firearms," Handberg said. "And, what they would do is they would do something called an e-trace."

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says the guns kept tracing back to Gladman.

"We're now knowing these kids are buying and selling them from others, from other kids," Barton said. "They have this person right here that was able to take advantage and sell these for financial gain."

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Barton says there’s a troubling demand for guns from kids and teens.

"People know that these kids want them," Barton said. "People know that these kids will find money to purchase them. So, we have to be aggressive on the front end to stop that."

Handberg says law enforcement officers were able to recover the guns from all eight transactions.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office says Gladman was sentenced to four years in prison.

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