Convicted Felon Sentenced for Possessing AM-15 Rifle and Ammunition

BOSTON – A Holyoke man was sentenced today in federal court in Springfield for illegally possessing an AM-15 rifle and ammunition.

Akeem Castro, 26, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni to 41 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In April 2019, Castro pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a convicted felon.

On March 7, 2017, Castro possessed an Anderson Manufacturing AM-15 assault-style rifle and 34 rounds of ammunition. Castro is prohibited from owning a firearm due to a prior felony conviction. Castro admitted that, on that date, he sold the firearm, ammunition, and two magazines capable of holding 30 rounds each, for $1,800 to a government witness in a parking lot in Chicopee. 

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling; Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division; Colonel Kerry A. Gilpin, Superintendent of the Massachusetts State Police; Springfield Police Commissioner Cheryl Clapprood; and Holyoke Police Chief Manny Febo made the announcement. Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil L. Desroches of Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office prosecuted the case.