Orlando, Florida – Senior U.S. District Judge John Antoon II has sentenced Alvis Alexander Briceno-Yajures (24, Venezuela) to eight years and nine months in federal prison for unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by an alien illegally or unlawfully in the United States. Briceno-Yajures pleaded guilty on May 8, 2025.
According to court documents, in the early morning hours of July 30, 2024, Briceno-Yajures robbed a victim of her personal possessions at gunpoint in a Daytona Beach motel room. He then dragged the victim by her hair down a flight of stairs and attempted to force her into a vehicle with two of his accomplices. A bystander intervened and helped pull the victim away as Briceno-Yajures discharged the firearm. Within a few hours of that incident, Briceno-Yajures and his accomplices drove to an apartment complex in Holly Hill, where Briceno-Yajures and an accomplice pointed firearms at another victim and her friend as they took the victim’s car. Briceno-Yajures was arrested shortly thereafter by officers from the Daytona Beach Police Department, who recovered a loaded firearm concealed in Briceno-Yajures’ underwear.
This case was investigated by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office, the Daytona Beach Police Department, and the Holly Hill Police Department. It was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Del Mastro.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.
