PROVIDENCE, R.I. – Justice Reyes, 20, of Pawtucket, pleaded guilty in federal court in Providence today to possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number. Reyes was arrested outside his Pawtucket residence on April 1, 2016, moments after he sold the firearm to an undercover federal law enforcement agent.
Reyes was serving a state court imposed sentence of home confinement at the time he sold the firearm to an undercover ATF agent.
Reye’s guilty plea before U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith is announced by United States Attorney Peter F. Neronha and Mickey Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Boston Field Division of ATF.
According to information presented to the court, on April 1, 2016, an undercover ATF agent bought a .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle from Reyes for $350. Reyes specified that the serial number had been obliterated, and that he could get the undercover and the undercover’s associates additional guns with obliterated serial numbers.
According to Rhode Island state court records, Reyes was sentenced on March 17, 2016, to one year home confinement for violating a suspended sentence imposed on January 29, 2016, having pleaded nolo contendre to a charge of simple assault domestic. Reyes began serving his home confinement sentence two weeks prior to selling the firearm to the ATF agent.
Reyes, who has been detained since his arrest on April 1, 2016, is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Court Chief Judge William E. Smith on June 5, 2017. Possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number is punishable by a statutory sentence of up to 10 years in federal prison, 3 years supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Milind M. Shah.
The matter was investigated by ATF and the Rhode Island AFT Task Force, with the assistance of the Pawtucket Police Department.
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