Miami Cop Sentenced To 4 Years For Running Guns from MIA

MIAMI, FL — A former Miami-Dade police officer has been sentenced to four years in jail for running guns through Miami International Airport. Officer Michael Freshko pleaded guilty in June to conspiring to illegally export five handguns and a rifle from the United States to the Dominican Republic on flights through Miami. The 48-year-old officer was sentenced on Friday before U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles.

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"As part of his guilty plea, Freshko admitted that after receiving firearms from a co-conspirator, he used his official position as a MDPD officer to transport the firearms past the passenger screening area and into the portion of Miami International Airport that housed the departure gates," federal officials said. (Sign up for our free Daily Newsletters and Breaking News Alerts for the Miami Patch.)

The former officer was accused of smuggling four Glock .9 mm pistols, one Sig Sauer .9 mm pistol, and one Sig Sauer 5.56 rifle.

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"Freshko thereafter would deliver the firearms to a co-conspirator, who in turn would store the firearms within carry-on baggage. Next, a co-conspirator would travel to the Dominican Republic aboard a commercial flight, with the firearms within carry-on baggage," federal officials added. "After arriving in the Dominican Republic, a co-conspirator would deliver the firearms to an associate."

The sentence was announced by Benjamin G. Greenberg, acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Florida; George L. Piro, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Miami Field Office; and Juan J. Perez, Director, Miami-Dade Police Department (MDPD), made the announcement.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael Davis.

Photo courtesy Wilkie D. Ferguson Jr. United States Federal Courthouse in Miami