A St. Augustine man and his younger relative were the alleged co-conspirators of a Ponte Vedra Beach real estate agent charged with selling guns and drugs, according to new federal court documents.
In a Tuesday filing, prosecutors stated that Jayden Cope, 21, and Alton Cope III, 64, collaborated with realtor Braden Hobbs to illegally sell firearms without a license.
Both alleged co-conspirators — whose familial relationship is unclear — have pleaded guilty to the charge, court records show.
According to an indictment, investigators began focusing on Hobbs after tracing guns seized in drug raids back to him.
Undercover agents later purchased 11 guns from two of Hobbs’ alleged co-conspirators, who later identified him as their firearm source.
The federal investigation revealed that Hobbs purchased more than 120 guns from legal dealers in Jacksonville between March 2022 and June 2024, with the intent to resell them without a license.
Prosecutors say Hobbs was aware that some of his buyers were narcotics dealers.
The elder Cope allegedly told a confidential informant posing as a gun buyer that he had a contact “in the Nocatee area” who supplied him with firearms.
Federal agents arrested Cope in August 2024 after he sold them five guns and ammunition for $6,000, according to court filings. He pleaded guilty to illegal gun sale charges in October.
Jayden Cope — who was present during that sale — also pleaded guilty to similar charges.
However, separate filings show that he was arrested again while out on bond awaiting sentencing.
In January, a St. Johns County sheriff’s deputy pulled Cope over and discovered a handgun and drug paraphernalia in the vehicle. He was arrested and charged with illegal possession of a firearm by a felon. That case is pending.
Prosecutors described the trio in court as “co-conspirators [who] engaged in the conduct of dealing firearms without a license in the same conspiracy.”
Hobbs — who was also charged with assaulting a corrections officer after a June 2024 arrest — faces up to 95 years in prison.
He remains in custody.
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