A former high school teacher in Hillsborough County has been sentenced to federal prison for conspiring to purchase firearms for a transnational criminal organization based in Trinidad and Tobago.
Shannon Nicole Samlalsingh, 47, of Temple Terrace, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge William F. Jung to one year and one day in federal prison for conspiracy to make false statements to a firearms dealer. The court also ordered Samlalsingh to forfeit the firearms purchased as part of the offense.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida, Samlalsingh pleaded guilty on June 20, 2025. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe announced the sentence.
Court documents state that Samlalsingh, who was employed as a Hillsborough County high school teacher at the time, purchased seven firearms for a Trinidad-based transnational criminal organization. Investigators said she falsely stated on forms from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives that the firearms were for her personal use.
Instead, authorities said she transferred the weapons to members of the criminal organization, who then smuggled them into Trinidad.
On April 21, 2022, authorities in Trinidad and Tobago seized a shipment from the United States at Piarco International Airport containing two punching bags and other goods. Hidden inside the punching bags were multiple weapons and firearm components, including pistols, a semi-automatic shotgun, AR-15 parts and magazines, and hundreds of rounds of ammunition.
Investigators determined that Samlalsingh had purchased four of the firearms recovered in the shipment: a SAR-9 9mm pistol, a Ruger-9 9mm pistol, a Taurus G3 9mm pistol and a Taurus G2C 9mm pistol.
The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with assistance from the Trinidad and Tobago Police Service, including its Transnational Organized Crime Unit and Special Investigations Unit.
Additional support was provided by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, the Florida Department of Law Enforcement, United States Customs and Border Protection and the U.S. Department of Commerce, Office of Export Enforcement.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Adam W. McCall.
