Massachusetts Man Sentenced to Eight Years for Illegal Possession of a Firearm

Portland, Maine: Acting United States Attorney Richard W. Murphy announced that Melson Jacques, a/k/a “Mike”, 35, of Braintree, Massachusetts, was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court by Judge Jon D. Levy to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release for possession of a firearm by a felon. Jacques pleaded guilty to the charge on March 3, 2016.

Court records reveal that in May 2015, Jacques coerced a drug-addicted Biddeford man to purchase a Glock 9mm handgun for him and a drug trafficking accomplice through a straw purchase in Saco that was surveilled by federal agents. Jacques was prohibited from possessing firearms as the result of multiple felony drug convictions in Massachusetts. At the time Jacques came to Maine in the spring of 2015, he was a fugitive wanted on felony warrants out of Massachusetts where he had absconded from an ongoing drug trafficking trial.

Jacques faced an enhanced sentence for possessing the handgun while engaged in drug trafficking. In imposing the sentence, Judge Levy noted the defendant’s lengthy criminal history and “disregard for the law.”

The investigation was conducted by the Saco Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.