Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Polk County Man Sentenced to Prison for Burglarizing and Stealing from Federally Licensed Firearms Dealer
Talique McKenzie, 20, of Winter Haven, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks to five years in prison yesterday, after having previously pled guilty to stealing firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer (Case No. 19-CR-14013).
Ariana Fajardo Orshan, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Ari C. Shapira, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office and Paul Blackman, Sheriff, Highlands County Sheriff’s Office, made the announcement.
According to the court record, on January 25, 2019, McKenzie and an accomplice burglarized Bean Armory, Inc., a federally licensed firearms dealer in Lake Placid, Florida. McKenzie and his accomplice stole 27 firearms from Bean Armory, after which they led law enforcement on a high-speed chase through Highlands County in a stolen vehicle. McKenzie left the stolen vehicle behind a residence and fled on foot to a nearby dock, where he was apprehended by detectives from the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office. McKenzie intended to sell the firearms he stole from Bean Armory to drug dealers in Polk County.
U.S. Attorney Fajardo Orshan commended the investigative efforts of the ATF and Highlands County Sheriff’s Office. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter.
Related court documents and information may be found 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.
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