Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Orlando, Florida – United States District Judge Roy B. Dalton, Jr. today found Marco Maurice Heath (36, Deleon Spring) guilty of being a convicted felon who unlawfully possessed multiple firearms and ammunition. Heath faces a maximum penalty of life in federal prison due to his prior felony convictions for crimes of violence and serious drug offenses. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for November 3, 2014. He was indicted on May 7, 2014.

According to evidence presented at the trial, on November 8, 2013, an investigator with the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office (VCSO) was driving to work when he saw Heath riding a bicycle toward him with a shotgun and another long gun lying across the handlebars of the bicycle. The investigator radioed the VCSO dispatcher for back-up assistance while he turned around to look for Heath.  A short time later, Heath was stopped, but no longer had any guns with him. Deputies continued to search the neighborhood for the guns. Ultimately deputies arrived at a nearby residence occupied by Heath’s girlfriend. She gave consent for the officers to search her home, and in a bedroom officers found a shotgun and a semi-automatic rifle underneath one bed, and a backpack containing three handguns and ammunition underneath another bed. Following his arrest, Heath admitted that he had possessed the firearms and ammunition the officers found that morning. Heath has eight prior felony convictions, including a conviction for armed robbery and multiple convictions for selling cocaine.

This case was investigated by Volusia County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. It is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bruce S. Ambrose.

This 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 Trevor Velinor, Acting 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 also a part of ATF’s Frontline strategy to reduce violent crime and improve the quality of life in communities where law enforcement efforts are focused.

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