Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Tampa, Florida – U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington today sentenced Anthony Lee Erity (33, Kenneth City) to nine years and two months in federal prison for possessing a firearm and ammunition as a convicted felon. A federal jury found him guilty on June 25, 2014.

According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, on July 11, 2013, during an undercover operation at a local tattoo shop in Pinellas County, Erity sold a firearm and ammunition out of his car to a confidential informant. As a previously convicted felon, Erity was prohibited from possessing a firearm or ammunition under federal law. As the trial date approached in this case, Erity also took steps to flee the country and retaliate against a potential witness in the case.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives and the St. Petersburg Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Adam M. Saltzman and Simon A. Gaugush.

It is another case prosecuted as a part of the Department of Justice’s “Project Safe Neighborhoods” Program - a nationwide, gun-violence reduction strategy. United States Attorney A. Lee Bentley, III, along with Regina Lombardo, Special Agent in Charge, ATF, is coordinating the Project Safe Neighborhoods effort here in the Middle District of Florida in cooperation with federal, state, and local law enforcement officials. It is another example of ATF’s Frontline Strategy to impact violent crime within our communities.

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