A Jacksonville man, employed with the United States Postal Service, has entered a guilty plea in federal court for possessing a firearm as an unauthorized drug user. The defendant, 57-year-old Bryan Roger Byers, could be looking at up to 15 years behind bars, although the sentencing date remains undecided, according to the United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.
The investigation into Byers kicked into gear, when a firearm he had purchased came to light during an unrelated drug trafficking inquiry. A convicted felon caught with the weapon admitted to obtaining it from Byers, trading crack cocaine for the firearm. From Byers’ residence, authorities recovered several firearms and ammunition along with evidence suggesting the use of crack cocaine.
It’s not just the single unlawful exchange that has brought Byers to this point. Investigations have unveiled a series of transactions wherein Byers had allegedly acquired at least ten firearms over the past four years. These deals did not occur in alleyways, but rather through text messages that discuss the use of sex workers for connecting Byers with potential buyers — buyers who would trade drugs for guns. Such revelations offer a harrowing glimpse into an underground web of crime and desperation…