Jury Convicts Chinese National For Role In Unlicensed Firearms Dealing And Unlawfully Possessing A Firearm
ATF - Press Release
Monday, December 22, 2025Orlando, Florida – United States Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announces that a federal jury has found Jincheng Shi (St. Cloud, 28) guilty of aiding and abetting unlicensed firearms dealing and possession of a firearm as an alien admitted under a nonimmigrant visa. Shi faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in federal prison. His sentencing hearing is scheduled for March 9, 2026.
Shi was indicted on September 3, 2025.
According to testimony and evidence presented at trial, Shi was admitted to the United States under a nonimmigrant work visa in 2022, placing him in a prohibited class of persons not legally allowed to possess firearms. Since then, Shi operated a firearms parts business through which he sold various firearms parts and accessories at gun shows and out of a rented storage unit. Codefendants Victor Lafontaine and Jose Maldonado were among his customers, who then assembled the parts into completed firearms and sold them without the required Federal Firearms License. The evidence at trial showed that Lafontaine sold firearms to prohibited persons, including convicted felons.
When executing a search warrant at Shi’s home on February 20, 2025, federal agents found multiple firearms, including the Ruger rifle depicted below:
See full news release below: