Sanford Man Sentenced for Making False Statements to Firearms Dealers

PORTLAND, Maine: A Sanford man was sentenced today in federal court for providing false information to firearms dealers while purchasing firearms, U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee announced.

U.S. District Judge D. Brock Hornby sentenced Allen Sinclair Bowman, 26, to 18 months in prison and 18 months of supervised release. Bowman pleaded guilty in August 2021.

According to court records, in October and November 2018, Bowman purchased 10 firearms from three different federal firearm licensees in Cumberland and York counties. While purchasing the firearms, Bowman responded “Yes” to a question on an ATF form which asked if he was purchasing the firearms for himself. Bowman was actually purchasing the firearms for a drug dealer in Massachusetts to settle a drug debt. It is against federal law to provide false information to federal firearm licensees when purchasing firearms.

The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Sanford Police Department investigated the case as 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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