SARASOTA, Fla. – A Sarasota-based truck driver who spent months smuggling Florida-bought handguns across the Canadian border will spend the next 51 months in a federal prison cell. Erhan John Er, 35, received his sentence from U.S. District Judge Mary S. Scriven following a conspiracy that funneled dozens of firearms into the hands of international criminals.
United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence this week after Er pleaded guilty in December to his role in the trafficking ring. Between February and September 2022, Er leveraged his job as a cross-border truck driver to transport weapons purchased in Sarasota and Naples.
Court records show Er bought 28 guns under the guise of personal use, only to hide them in his truck and deliver them to a co-conspirator in Canada. For his trouble, Er was paid his expenses plus a $1,000 CAD bounty for every firearm successfully delivered…