Etna Man Sentenced to a Year and a Day for Firearms Conspiracy

Bangor, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Hayri Berberoglu, 30, of Etna, formerly of Bangor, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court by Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., to a year and a day in prison and a year of supervised release for conspiring to violate federal firearms laws. The defendant pleaded guilty on December 28, 2016.

According to courts records, while employed at a Brewer pawn shop between July 2011 and October 2012, the defendant facilitated the straw purchase of 16 firearms. He falsified records of firearm sales to make it appear that a network of local straw purchasers bought the firearms, when, in fact, the actual buyers were from New Haven, Connecticut. At sentencing, Judge Woodcock noted that the actual buyers were members of the Red Side Guerilla Brims, a violent street gang affiliated with the national Bloods street gang. Gang members gave straw purchasers money to purchase particular firearms. The straw purchasers falsely claimed to be the actual buyers on the required federal transaction record. The defendant completed the sales knowing that the straw purchasers were not the actual buyers of the firearms.

The case was investigated by the Maine and the New Haven, Connecticut Offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency; the City of New Haven Department of Police Services; with assistance provided by the Brewer Police Department.