DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
Western District of New York

For Immediate Release

Friday, November 3, 2017
James P. Kennedy, Jr.
, United States Attorney
Contact: Barbara Burns

Rochester Man Convicted of Possessing a Defaced Gun

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - Acting U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Brian Patterson, 25, of Rochester, NY, was convicted after a jury trial of possession of a firearm with a defaced serial number. The charges carry a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Moynihan, who handled the prosecution of the case, stated that on September 7, 2015, Rochester Police Department officers were in the area of Dewey Avenue and Emerson Street investigating multiple calls regarding a fight. An officer saw the defendant standing in front of a corner store speaking with other people wearing khaki pants, and carrying a backpack but he was not wearing a shirt. The officer received information that a person fitting this description may have been involved in the fight. The defendant crossed the intersection of Dewey Avenue and Emerson Street and walked quickly into the building at 513 Dewey Avenue after turning and looking in the direction of police officers. Officers followed the defendant inside and found him at the top of a set of stairs but he was not wearing the backpack. Rather, Patterson had discarded the backpack out of sight from the officers by placing it around the corner on a landing leading to another flight of stairs.
 
Officers looked in the backpack and found a loaded .22 caliber semiautomatic rifle, along with a sweatshirt, a t-shirt and a belt. The serial number on the rifle was defaced by a deep scratch. Further, the barrel had been sawed off and the rifle stock was removed.   
 
The trial verdict is the result of an investigation by Rochester Police Department, under the direction of Chief Michael Ciminelli, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, under the direction of Special Agent- in-Charge Ashan Benedict, New York Field Division.
 
Sentencing is scheduled for January 10, 2018, at 3:00 PM before Judge David G. Larimer, who presided over the trial of the case.
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New York Field Division