Tampa, Florida - U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington has sentenced Faisal Buarki (23, Tampa) to 18 months in federal prison for possession of firearms by an alien who was admitted under a non-immigrant visa.
Buarki had pleaded guilty on June 3, 2019.
According to court documents, in February 2019, officers from the Tampa Police Department conducted a traffic stop of a car that Buarki was driving in south Tampa due to a mismatched license plate. A subsequent search of the car’s passenger area revealed two bullets on the front floorboard, a small amount of marijuana, and MDMA. Officers also found two handguns among Buarki’s possessions in the trunk, including a Glock.23 40-caliber pistol, containing 18 rounds of ammunition in the magazine, and an FNX-9 9mm pistol, both of which had been previously reported stolen. Buarki later admitted that he had possessed the two guns.
Under federal law, Buarki, who had been admitted to the United States from Kuwait on an F1 non-immigrant visa to study at the University of Tampa, was prohibited from possessing any firearms while he resided in the United States. Buarki’s status in the United States has since been terminated, and he faces removal from the United States upon his release from custody.
This case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick Scruggs.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
