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Press Release

Boston Man Sentenced for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm and Failing to Register as a Sex Offender

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Massachusetts

BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Boston for illegally possessing a firearm and ammunition and failing to register as a sex offender.

Shane Brown, 35, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge William G. Young to 37 months in prison and five years of supervised released. On March 10, 2021, Brown pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and one count of failing to register as a sex offender in violation of the Sex Offender Notification and Registration Act (SORNA).

Brown, who was convicted of a sex offense in Virginia in 2013, moved from Virginia to Boston in or around May 2020. In May and June 2020, Brown was employed in security work around Greater Boston. Brown failed to register as a sex offender in Massachusetts prior to his arrest on state charges on July 2, 2020. At the time of his state arrest, an SCCY Industries, model CPX-2, 9mm caliber pistol loaded with seven 9mm Luger cartridges was found in Brown’s waistband. Due to a previous conviction for a crime punishable by more than one year in prison, Brown is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell; John Gibbons, U.S. Marshal for the District of Massachusetts; Thomas L. Foster, U.S. Marshal for the Western District of Virginia; James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Acting Commissioner Gregory Long made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Elianna Nuzum of Mendell’s Major Crimes Unit prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Updated July 30, 2021

Topic
Firearms Offenses