Homeland Security Task Force Investigation Leads to Five Year Prison Sentence for Tallahassee Felon

Tallahassee, Florida - Kelveont'a Lamar Dennis, 32, of Tallahassee, Florida, was sentenced by Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor to 5 years in federal prison following his conviction at a jury trial on May 22, 2026. The sentence was announced by John P. Heekin, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Florida.

U.S. Attorney Heekin said: "My office continues to deliver successful prosecutions of targets of the Homeland Security Task Force, which is fighting to eradicate the criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations flooding our streets with drugs and violence. Our HSTF partners are committed to delivering the safe, drug-free streets our citizens deserve, and my office will continue to aggressively prosecute these offenders to fulfill that promise in the Northern District of Florida."

Evidence at trial, and court documents, showed that Dennis was routinely selling drugs and possessing firearms, despite the fact he was a convicted felon who was legally prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition. A federal search warrant was executed by law enforcement and electronic evidence seized. A jury found him guilty of possessing marijuana with the intent to distribute it.

Dennis had previous convictions for carjacking, false imprisonment, two instances of possession of a controlled substance, possession of firearm by a convicted felon, and felony battery, and had previously served prison sentences of 48 months, 12 years, and 394 days.

"This recidivist criminal routinely shows a complete contempt for the law," said Homeland Security Investigations Tampa acting Special Agent in Charge Nicholas Ingengo. "This kind of behavior cannot be allowed to poison our communities. HSI, alongside our law enforcement partners, will continually work to hold these criminals accountable."

Dennis' 5-year federal prison sentence will be followed by 20 years on supervised release.

The case involved an investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Tallahassee Police Department, with assistance from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, DHS Customs and Border Protection, and the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney James A. McCain.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF comprises agents and officers from multiple agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida.

The United States Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Florida is one of 94 offices that serve as the nation's principal litigators under the direction of the Attorney General. To access public court documents online, please visit the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of FloridaLinks to other government and non-government sites will typically appear with the "external link" icon to indicate that you are leaving the Department of Justice website when you click the link. website. For more information about the United States Attorney's Office, Northern District of Florida, visit https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndfl.