A former St. Cloud Police officer has been sentenced to three years in federal prison for his role in an illegal firearms dealing ring.
Michael Adrian Nieto, 31, faced a maximum penalty of five years on those federal charges of dealing in firearms, without a license, to a Caribbean smuggler. He pled guilty in February.
According to court records and the plea agreement, Nieto, a sworn law enforcement officer, repeatedly purchased and resold firearms to individuals such as Ernesto Vazquez, a reported member of a criminal conspiracy that smuggled hundreds of firearms to the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and Haiti. In addition, Nieto used police databases to provide sensitive and confidential information to Vazquez, who was previously sentenced to 11 years for his role in the ring…