U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
District of Maine

Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building
202 Harlow Street, Room 111
Bangor, Mainse 04401

(207) 945-0373

TTY: (207) 945-0307

Fax: (207) 945-0319

www.justice.gov/usao/me

For Immediate Release

May 18, 2009

Maine Man Sentenced for Possession of Sawed Off Shotguns

Bangor, Maine — United States Attorney Paula D. Silsby announced that Elwin H. Lord, Jr., 38, of Belmont, Maine, was sentenced on May 18, 2009, in U.S. District Court in Bangor, Maine, to 12 months and 1 day imprisonment and 3 years supervised release for the federal crime of possession of unregistered short-barreled shotguns. Lord pleaded guilty on December 2, 2008.

Court records reveal that in April 2008, Lord was found in possession of two sawed-off shotguns. Lord, who was on bail for a state OUI charge, was subject to searches by law enforcement. Two short-barreled shotguns were found in the attic above Lord’s bedroom at his residence. Lord admitted that he had traded two rifles for a 16 gauge short-barreled shotgun about 10 years before. Lord also explained that, during that same time period, he had purchased a 12 gauge shotgun. He subsequently broke the wooden stock on the shotgun, fashioned the broken stock into a pistol grip and sawed off the barrel, then ground off the serial number. Neither shotgun was registered to Lord in the ATF National Firearms Act records.

This case was a part of Maine’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative which coordinates the efforts of federal and state agencies in order to increase successful prosecution of firearms cases and educate potential offenders on the serious consequences of illegal gun use and possession.

United States Attorney Silsby praised the investigation conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Maine State Police.

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