Ex-Miami-Dade cop heading to prison for illegal gun exports at MIA

Michael Freshko, a former Miami-Dade police officer assigned to Miami International Airport, was sentenced to four years in prison Friday for using his position to smuggle weapons on flights to the Dominican Republic.

Freshko, 48, pleaded guilty in federal court in June to a conspiracy charge after investigators said he used his position to evade security checks and worked with others to export guns illegally out of the country.

As part of the plea, Freshko admitted to taking six guns on two different dates — once in October 2012 and again in December 2012 — to the Dominican Republic. He said he took the guns past the security check before giving them to a co-conspirator, who put them in carry-on luggage.

The smuggled firearms included four Glock .9 mm pistols, one Sig Sauer .9 mm pistol and one Sig Sauer 5.56 rifle.

In 2015, Freshko was taken off his post at the airport and put on desk duty. He was arrested in May on the conspiracy charge.

Freshko was hired by Miami-Dade police in 2004 and promoted to sergeant in 2010.

This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 7:22 PM with the headline "Ex-Miami-Dade cop heading to prison for illegal gun exports at MIA."