Schenectady Man Sentenced to 58 Months for Unlawful Firearm Possession

ALBANY, NEW YORK – Lawrence Giggetts, age 37, of Schenectady, New York, was sentenced today to 58 months in prison for possessing a firearm as a felon.

The announcement was made by United States Attorney Richard S. Hartunian and Special Agent in Charge Ashan M. Benedict of the New York Field Office of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF).

In pleading guilty, Giggetts admitted to possessing an inoperable .25-caliber, semiautomatic pistol, after he had been convicted of attempted reckless endangerment, a felony. The pistol, which was inoperable because it did not have a firing pin, still qualified as a firearm under federal law, which prohibits felons even from having inoperable firearms so long as there is an interstate connection.

Senior United States District Judge Gary L. Sharpe also sentenced Giggetts to 3 years of supervised release, to begin once Giggetts is released from prison.

This case was investigated by the ATF and the Schenectady Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Coffman.