Two Orlando men and a federally licensed firearms dealer have pleaded guilty to gun trafficking charges after agents recovered multiple firearms, ammunition, and grenades from a local home.
Two Central Florida men and a federally licensed firearms dealer were sentenced to prison this week for trafficking guns, over a year after multiple firearms, ammunition, and grenades were seized from a local residence.

A federally licensed firearms dealer and his two conspirators from Orlando have pleaded guilty to gun trafficking charges, months after multiple firearms, stockpiles of ammunition, and grenades were found in a local home.

On Monday, January 13, 2025, U.S. Attorney Roger B. Handberg announced that 35-year-old Melrose resident and firearms dealer Matthew L. Stephen Easton has pleaded guilty to gun trafficking.

Easton’s two conspirators – 23-year-old Ernesto Vazquez and 22-year-old Derick Yamir Perez Diaz, both from Orlando – had previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to traffic firarms.

According to the plea agreements, Easton supplied Perez Diaz with “large quantities of firearms” despite knowing that Perez Diaz was dealing them without a license.

Perez Diaz then trafficked numerous firearms to Vasquez, who resold them and smuggled them out of the country. Between October and December of 2023, over 100 Glock pistols and AK-47 rifles, along with machine guns, were distributed into the Middle District of Florida, Puerto Rico, and the Dominican Republic.

On Thursday, April 18, 2024, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted a search warrant at Vazquez’s residence. During that search, they found multiple firearms, an abundance of ammunition, and grenades.

Grenades recovered by agents Ernesto Vazquez and Derick Yamir Perez Diaz indicted on gun trafficking charges July 2024
In addition to firearms and ammo, agents also found grenades in Vazquez’s home during the search.

A sentencing hearing for Easton is scheduled for Friday, January 24, 2025. He is facing a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison.

Perez Diaz and Vazquez are scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday, March 25 and Tuesday, April 8, 2025, respectively. They are also each facing up to 15 years in federal prison.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the United States Postal Inspection Service, and Homeland Security Investigations. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Noah P. Dorman and Dana E. Hill.

Additionally, this case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce
violent crime and gun violence.