A federal judge sentenced former Florida trucker Erhan John Er to more than four years in prison on April 16, 2026, after a conviction tied to smuggling legally purchased U.S. handguns into Canada.
The fallout, according to Misryoum reporting, wasn’t contained to one case. The weapons were later recovered at 10 crime scenes across Ontario and Quebec, including two homicide investigations. Investigators say they moved the guns during the summer of 2022, and the cases that followed have stayed connected—like a paper trail that just won’t let go.
Court records filed in Tampa show the 35-year-old New York native moved 28 firearms across the border. Investigators traced 10 of those weapons to Canadian crimes, while 18 others remain missing, prosecutors say. How it worked, at least on paper, reads like a logistics plan—buy in Florida, ship north, collect payment. Actually… the “north” part is where everything turned violent.
Misryoum newsroom reported that the illicit operation involved Er purchasing firearms in Florida at retail price and charging a $1,000 delivery fee per weapon to an unnamed Canadian co-conspirator. Toronto police, as described by Misryoum, reported that 86 percent of crime guns seized in the city last year originated from the U.S. That figure has been floating around these cases for a while, and it keeps resurfacing because it’s the same pathway—one side supplies, the other side pays for it in blood.
In a formal statement about the sentencing, U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe said Er “falsely claimed to gun dealers that he was buying guns for himself, only to smuggle the guns into Canada, where they were used in multiple crimes.” Federal prosecutors also highlighted that Er used his position as a commercial driver to facilitate the transport of the weapons—nothing flashy, just access and routine.
Misryoum editorial desk noted that the investigation by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) confirmed all recovered pistols had their serial numbers removed through grinding or drilling. “Altering or obliterating a firearm’s serial number is often utilized by persons attempting to evade detection,” wrote ATF special agent Joshua Dominguez in the criminal complaint, adding that methods of obliteration include grinding, scraping, and drilling. Forensic recovery mattered here: those serial number traces helped agents link the guns back to Er’s purchases in Florida.
During a search of a storage unit in Sarasota, agents found a grinder and a ledger showing Canadian payouts totaling over $16,000, Misryoum reported. The plea agreement states an attempted purchase was flagged as suspicious and never took place—referring to Er’s failed effort to buy four semi-automatic firearms with high-capacity magazines in July 2022. One smuggled Glock was recovered after a high-profile gunfight in Toronto on November 11, 2024, where 100 rounds were fired near Queen Street West. Another weapon was linked to the June 2024 killing of Tobenna Obiaga in Hamilton.
The case remains unfinished in at least one crucial way: Misryoum analysis indicates the identity of the Canadian recipient is still a focus of ongoing law enforcement efforts. U.S. Attorney Kehoe said the matter “continues to be under investigation, with regard to that individual.” On the Canadian side, provincial authorities have indicated they are collaborating with U.S. officials. Angie Sloan, a spokesperson for the Ontario Provincial Police, said the agency “reviews all information and evidence provided and investigates matters thoroughly, laying charges when supported by the evidence.” And somewhere in a courtroom, you could almost hear it—the faint buzz of fluorescent lights—while someone finally learns that the distance between “buying” and “used” can be measured in scenes, not stories.
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