Gardner Man Sentenced for Firearm and Drug Offenses

BOSTON – A Gardner man was sentenced today in federal court in Worcester for illegally possessing ammunition and distributing fentanyl.

Travis Miller, 30, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Timothy S. Hillman to 80 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In March 2018, Miller pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of ammunition and one count of distribution of fentanyl. In November 2017, Miller and another individual, Edwin Labaw, were arrested after being charged in a criminal complaint. 

According to court documents, Miller met with an undercover federal agent on Sept. 19, 2017, in Gardner, and the agent purchased a double-barrel 12-gauge shotgun, a 9mm Kel-Tech Sub 2000 rifle, and 11 rounds of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition in exchange for $1,200. Miller again met with an undercover agent on Sept. 27, 2017, in Fitchburg, and the agent purchased a 7.62x39mm caliber SKS rifle, along with ammunition and magazines, in exchange for $1,800.  Miller engaged in communications with the undercover agent and a cooperating source regarding other firearms, including a sniper rifle and the potential assembly of a fully automatic AR-style rifle.

Subsequently, Miller sent text messages to the undercover agent offering to sell fentanyl patches and OxyContin pills. On Nov. 3, 2017, Miller met with the agent in Worcester and sold him a .38 caliber revolver with an obliterated serial number, .38 caliber ammunition, 39 fentanyl patches, and 65 OxyContin pills. 

According to court documents, Miller has prior felony convictions and is therefore prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Labaw pleaded guilty on March 5, 2018, to being a felon in possession of a firearm and is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 29, 2018.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement. This case was investigated with assistance from the Worcester, Gardner, and Fitchburg Police Departments, and the Massachusetts State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Bill Abely of Lelling’s Worcester Branch Office prosecuted the case.