Watertown Man Sentenced To 15 Years Pursuant To The Armed Career Criminal Statute

RICHARD S. HARTUNIAN, United States Attorney, Northern District of New York announces that SHAWN J. ADAMS (39, of Watertown, NY) was sentenced to today by United States District Court Judge Glenn T. Suddaby to 15 years imprisonment for being a three time convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

The charges stemmed from an incident on November 8, 2010, at approximately 1:00 a.m., when the Watertown Police Department received complaint involving a man with a gun that had entered the complainant’s residence through an open third floor window. Upon arrival at the third floor apartment, Watertown police officers located SHAWN J. ADAMS asleep on a couch along with a gun case near an open window. The officers then woke ADAMS and arrested him. Thereafter, ADAMS stated that the firearm in the gun case belonged to him and that the gun was a Remington. The officers then opened the gun case and located a Remington, SPR 453, 12 gauge, semi-automatic shotgun manufactured in Russia.

ADAMS had been previously convicted of crimes punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding one year, that being: (1) a conviction in Saint Lawrence County Court on February 7, 1994, for the felony crime of Burglary in the Third Degree; (2) a conviction in Jefferson County Court, on October 26, 1998, for the felony crime of Attempted Burglary in the Third Degree; and (3) a conviction in Suffolk County Court on November 15, 2001, for the felony crime of Attempted Burglary in the Second Degree.

This prosecution resulted from an investigation conducted by the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) Syracuse Office, the Watertown Police Department, and the New York State Police Troop D Unit. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Ransom P. Reynolds. Further questions may be directed to Executive Assistant U.S. Attorney John Duncan at (315) 448-0672.