Massachusetts Man Sentenced for Unlawfully Possessing Firearm

PORTLAND, Maine: A Massachusetts man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Portland for being a felon in possession of a firearm, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.

U.S. District Judge George Z. Singal sentenced Emmanuel Diaz, 31, to six years and three months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Diaz pleaded guilty on July 6, 2021.

According to court records, Diaz absconded from parole in Massachusetts in October 2020. He subsequently traveled to Maine, where he was observed on video engaged in target shooting. On November 11, 2020, law enforcement officers arrested Diaz and recovered the gun. Diaz was prohibited from possessing a firearm because of two prior felony convictions.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated the case with assistance from the Maine State Police and the Holyoke (Massachusetts) and Springfield  (Massachusetts) police departments.

The prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative. PSN is a nationwide initiative that brings together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement officials, prosecutors, community leaders and other stakeholders to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in a community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. PSN is coordinated by the U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in the 94 federal judicial districts throughout the 50 states and U.S. territories. PSN is customized to account for local violent crime problems and resources. Across all districts, PSN follows four key design elements of successful violent crime reduction initiatives: community engagement, prevention and intervention, focused and strategic enforcement, and accountability.

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