Miami, Florida – Last Thursday, a federal district judge in West Palm Beach, Florida sentenced the 34-year-old leader of a South Florida drug trafficking ring to 210 months in federal prison for conspiring to commit a Hobbs Act robbery and conspiring to traffic 100 kilograms or more of marijuana.
As part of his guilty plea earlier this year, Christopher Michael Frantantoni admitted that in June 2019, he and five members of the drug trafficking organization that he ran flew from South Florida to San Francisco, California, to commit a home invasion robbery of Frantantoni’s marijuana supplier. Frantantoni gained access to the home where the supplier kept the stash by setting up a meeting there to negotiate the purchase of 90 pounds of high-grade marijuana. Frantantoni and the seller met at the house on June 24, 2019. Frantantoni walked inside, leaving the entrance door ajar. Three men wearing black tactical uniforms and body armor burst through the door pretending to be DEA agents. In fact, they were Frantantoni’s associates. The men then pointed what appeared to be two pistols and a rifle at the residence’s three occupants, demanding that the victims get on the ground and not look at them. They grabbed cash and 90 pounds of high-grade marijuana and fled the scene. Frantantoni also admitted that, prior to the robbery, he and his crew had purchased large amounts of marijuana in California for resale in South Florida.
Co-defendants Kyle Edwin Firestone and Bradley Broder pled guilty and were sentenced to 27 months’ imprisonment. Two other co-defendants pled guilty and are awaiting sentencing as follows: April Renee Frantantoni (October 11, 9:00 a.m.) and Jonathan Paul Bonanno (December 9, 9:00 a.m.).
Juan Antonio Gonzalez, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, and Christopher A. Robinson, Special Agent in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), Miami Field Office, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Judge Kenneth A. Marra.
