Earlier this week, U. S. District Judge William J. Castagna sentenced a convenience store operator to 37 months in prison. He was arrested for having a gun in his possession after having been convicted of a felony.

A jury found Khaldoun Khalil Khawaja, aka Tony Khawaja, 47, guilty of the charge on January 19, 2012.

According to evidence presented at trial, Khawaja operated several convenience stores, including Main Street Groceries, which is also known as Tony’s Groceries. A law enforcement investigation revealed that Tony Khawaja, who was on probation, was negotiating fraudulently obtained federal income tax refund checks in his office at the back of the store.

An undercover Hillsborough County investigator took two Treasury checks to Main Street Groceries on May 5th of last year. The investigator went into the back and Khawaja paid twenty cents on the dollar, or $240 in cash for each of the checks.

Neither of the checks were in the name of the investigator. While in the store, the investigator observed a .12 gauge shotgun next to the desk where Khawaja was sitting.

The incident was captured on video. On may 20, a federal search warrant was executed at the store, and agencies recovered shotgun shells, .380 caliber ammunition, and a loaded .9mm semiautomatic Glock handgun.

Agents also recovered $9,498.52 in cash from Khawaja’s office and four U.S. Treasury checks from his front pants pocket.

The investigation was part of Operation Rainmaker Initiative. The task force consists of representatives from several federal agencies as well as state and local law enforcement agencies. It was created to investigate the widespread fraudulent use of personal information and federal income tax returns fraud in the Tampa Bay region.