Former Key West firefighter Vincent Vega was sentenced to 18 months in federal prison after pleading 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.
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, his guilty plea, history of mental illness and a dozen or so letters of support from Key West community members to Judge David Leibowitz.
The letters describe Vega as a gentle and caring man with strong family ties who spent years caring for his aging grandmother before she died. The 18-month sentence was what Vega’s attorney, Roger Cabrera, had requested, asking the judge to consider Vega’s mental illness, lack of criminal intent, work history and family support.
The 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, in Vega’s home, a significant cache of guns, a pipe bomb, bomb-making materials and diagrams of various properties, 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 had been in custody at the Miami federal detention center since June 2025. Records from the U.S. Bureau of Prisons indicate that Vega is still at the Miami detention center, although it is unclear if that is where he will serve his full sentence.
In supporting his request for an 18-month sentence, Cabrera detailed Vega’s decade-long struggle with and treatment for mental illness that has included various anti-psychotic medications. The attorney also noted that Vega did not use any of the weapons found at his home 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 in court documents.
He also disputed 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.
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.
