A former Florida real estate agent was sentenced to nine years in federal prison for conspiracy to traffic firearms, making a materially false statement to a licensed firearms dealer, and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including 500 grams or more of cocaine.
According to the charges brought against him, Braden Hobbs, a former agent with Florida Homes Realty & Mortgage in Jacksonville, fell into the law enforcement investigative scope when several firearms he had purchased were recovered in the homes of drug distributors and a convicted felon. Through further investigation, agents discovered that between March 2022 and June 2024, Hobbs had purchased more than 120 firearms from three different federally licensed firearms dealers in Jacksonville, with 67 of those firearms being purchased between January and June 2024.
Hobbs then sold those firearms to others in transactions involving either cash or drug trading. Not only was Hobbs aware that some of his customers intended to resell the firearms and were drug users or drug distributors, but he also asked his co-conspirators to assist him in finding buyers for the firearms.
Hobbs is not a federally licensed firearms dealer, as required by federal law. When he purchased the firearms from the federally licensed firearms dealers, he indicated on the required ATF Form 4473 that he was the actual buyer or transferee of the firearms. Hobbs also indicated that he was not a user of or addicted to controlled substances. However, Hobbs was not the actual buyer or transferee of the firearms, and he was a habitual user of controlled substances.
In addition, Hobbs was distributing controlled substances, including over 500 grams of cocaine and Adderall. He routinely advertised controlled substances for sale and coordinated deals. Hobbs often sold the controlled substances to the same customers to whom he was selling firearms.
Hobbs was arrested in June 2024 by the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office for driving under the influence and trafficking in cocaine. During a search of Hobbs’s car, officers located approximately 330 grams of cocaine and 17 grams of Adderall, as well as various items used to package and distribute controlled substances.
In related court proceedings, co-conspirator Alton Wayne Cope III was sentenced to four years and three months in federal prison for possessing a firearm as a convicted felon and conspiring to deal in firearms without a license. Another co-conspirator, Jayden Lance Cope, was sentenced to six years for conspiring to deal in firearms without a license and unlawful receipt of a firearm after being indicted.
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