Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

BOSTON – A Waltham man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for unlawfully possessing multiple firearms and thousands of rounds of ammunition.

 

Zeph H. Pitt, 42, was sentenced by U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 15 years in prison and five years of supervised release.  In May 2016, Pitt pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of firearms and ammunition.

 

In February 2015, Pitt traveled to Florida and took possession of his deceased father’s estate.  Included with the property was a cache of weapons and ammunition, including an Israel Weapons Industry Baby Desert Eagle .40 caliber semi-automatic pistol; a Ruger P85 9mm semi-automatic pistol; a Mossberg 930 12 gauge shotgun; an ERA 12 gauge shotgun; a Ruger 10/22 .22 caliber rifle; a Harrington and Richardson 700 .22 caliber rifle; and approximately 2400 rounds of various caliber ammunition. Pitt then transported the weapons and ammunition to his home in Waltham. Once in Waltham, two of the firearms were stolen by Pitt’s friend, George Perry, also a previously convicted felon. Perry was later arrested and admitted to stealing the weapons from Pitt. 

 

Pitt was prohibited from possessing a firearm due to multiple prior felony convictions, including a 1994 breaking and entering conviction; a 1994 distribution of cocaine conviction; a 1999 distribution of cocaine conviction; a 2003 kidnapping, assault and battery, and assault with a dangerous weapon conviction; a 2010 larceny conviction; a 2010 breaking and entering conviction; a 2010 assault and battery conviction; and a 2013 conviction for carrying a dangerous weapon. 

 

In August 2016, Perry was sentenced to 15 years in prison.

 

Acting United States Attorney William D. Weinreb; Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Waltham Police Chief Keith MacPherson made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth G. Shine of Weinreb’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.