A former Key West firefighter is facing a federal prison term and will be sentenced later this month, having pleaded guilty to felony charges of possessing an illegal short-barreled rifle and possessing a destructive device – which includes bombs, grenades, rockets, missiles, mines, or similar devices, or the materials to create such a device.
Vincent Vega’s case started with a traffic stop on March 14, 2025, when police found an illegal short-barreled AR-15 in his car. They later found a significant cache of guns, a pipe bomb, bomb-making materials and diagrams of various properties in Vega’s residence, according to police reports and court documents.
Vega’s case was transferred to federal court, and following a bond hearing in June 2025, U.S. Judge Lurana Snow ordered he be detained while awaiting trial. He has been in custody at the Miami Federal Detention Center since June.
Vega, 40, was scheduled to be sentenced Jan. 21, but federal prosecutors asked for a 10-day postponement to prepare a response to a late legal filing by Vega’s attorney, Roger Cabrera, that objects to parts of a confidential pre-sentencing report that the judge will consider when deciding Vega’s sentence.
While the two charges each carry a maximum prison term of 10 years, prosecutors agreed to pursue a significantly shorter sentence due to Vega’s willingness to take responsibility for his crimes and plead guilty. Cabrera asks the court for an 18-month sentence, but acknowledges that federal sentencing guidelines, when considering Vega’s mental illness, lack of criminal intent, past work history and family support, could result in a sentence of 24 to 30 months. Prosecutors had not filed a sentencing suggestion as of Jan. 20.
Cabrera’s objections to the pre-sentencing report also detail Vega’s decade-long struggle with and treatment for mental illness that has included various anti-psychotic medications. Cabrera also noted that Vega did not use any of the weapons to commit any crimes.
“After completing its search of Vega’s electronic devices, the FBI specifically found that there was ‘no evidence of a planned attack or communications reflecting a particular ideology or a co-conspirator,’” Cabrera writes.
He also disputes the description of the diagrams found in Vega’s residence.
“Because he was a survivalist/prepper who anticipated the end of civil society, Vega had created this diagram years ago, in anticipation of a doomsday scenario, and the statements … fail to clarify that they reflect Vega’s ideas for protecting his family in the event of such a doomsday scenario,” Cabrera writes.
The court also received 10 letters of support from Key West community members, who describe Vega as a gentle and caring man with strong family ties who spent years caring for his aging grandmother before she died.
Cabrera declined to comment on Vega’s case prior to his sentencing, as did his father, Alex Vega, a well-known retired Key West firefighter and fire department historian.
Vincent Vega worked as a Key West firefighter and EMT from September 2014 to June 2023. He was named EMT of the Quarter in March 2016, but then began struggling significantly with mental illness and depression.
