U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
District of Maine

100 Middle Street
6th Floor, East Tower
Portland, Maine 04101

(207) 780-3257

TTY: (207) 780-3060

Fax: (207) 780-3304

www.justice.gov/usao/me

For Immediate Release

May 6, 2009

Monmouth Man Sentenced on Federal Firearm Charge

Portland, Maine: United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced today that a federal judge sitting in Portland sentenced Shane Rines, age 35 of Auburn, to serve 46 months in federal prison for illegal possession of a stolen firearm.

On about October 18, 2006, a burglary was committed at a Phillips, Maine home during which three firearms were stolen. Following the burglary, Shane Rines possessed one of the three stolen firearms at his residence. All three firearms were later recovered by the Central Maine Violent Crimes Task Force.

Court records show that Rines was previously convicted of numerous felony crimes, including a 2002 federal firearm offense and two previous revocations of federal supervised release in 2007 and 2008. In today’s sentencing, United States District Judge D. Brock Hornby granted the Government’s request to sentence Rines to a longer sentence than was called for by federal sentencing guidelines based on Rines’ extensive criminal record.

This case is part of Maine’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is designed to reduce gun violence and illegal gun possession. United States Attorney Silsby said that the investigations leading to these indictments were conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force, Auburn Police Department, Lewiston Police Department and the Maine State Police.

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