Polk County Man Wanted To Sell Guns To Drug Dealers: Feds

MIAMI, FL —A 20-year-old Winter Haven man has been sentenced to five years in prison after stealing 27 guns from a Lake Placid gun shop back in January and then leading police on a wild chase in a stolen car.

McKenzie planned to sell the stolen weapons from the Bean Armory to drug dealers in Polk County, according to federal prosecutors, who said McKenzie had an accomplice.

McKenzie was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Donald M. Middlebrooks on Wednesday after having previously pleaded guilty to stealing firearms from a federally licensed firearms dealer.

The sentence was announced by U.S. Attorney Ariana Fajardo Orshan in Miami along with Special Agent in Charge Ari C. Shapira of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Miami Field Office and Sheriff Paul Blackman of the Highlands County Sheriff’s Office.

"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," prosecutors said.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael D. Porter.