Charlestown Career Criminal Pleads Guilty to Possessing Ammunition

BOSTON – Joseph J. Kennedy, 27, of Charlestown, pleaded guilty to being a previously convicted felon in possession of ammunition.  U.S. District Court Judge Douglas P. Woodlock scheduled sentencing for June 1, 2015.

On May 7, 2014, Kennedy, who was the subject of an outstanding arrest warrant, was observed driving a vehicle in Charlestown.Kennedy was apprehended and the arresting officers discovered a stolen safe in his vehicle which contained multiple rounds of ammunition.

As an armed career criminal, the defendant is subject to a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison and no greater than life, five years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine.  Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties.  Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal of the U.S. Marshals Service, District of Massachusetts; and Boston Police Chief William Evans, made the announcement today.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth G. Shine and Mary B. Murrane of Ortiz’s Major Crimes Unit.