A former Leon County Sheriff’s deputy has pleaded guilty to federal charges for unlawfully possessing an unregistered machine gun, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Florida.
Bill Ed Culpepper Jr. of Havana, Florida, entered the guilty plea on charges that could result in up to 10 years in federal prison.
The case began during a drug trafficking investigation of Culpepper’s son, Garret Culpepper. During that investigation, law enforcement developed additional probable cause to search the defendant’s residence in Havana.
The search revealed multiple unregistered machine guns as well as an unregistered rifle silencer at Culpepper’s home.
Culpepper is scheduled for sentencing on January 20, 2026, in federal court before Chief United States District Judge Allen C. Winsor in Tallahassee, Florida.
Culpepper was a school resource officer at Woodville PreK-8 at the time of his arrest.
The Tallahassee Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime perpetrators.
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