Bay State Man Sentenced To 70 Months In Prison For Illegally Possessing Self-Built Guns In New Hampshire

          CONCORD, N.H. – United States Attorney Emily Gray Rice announced that today Raymond L. Blackmer, III, 52, was sentenced to a term of 70 months in federal prison.  Blackmer, formerly of Easthampton, Massachusetts, previously had pleaded guilty to the federal crime of Illegal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. 

          According to statements made in connection with Blackmer’s earlier guilty plea, the Easthampton (Massachusetts) Police Department learned on November 6, 2015, that Blackmer intended to travel from Massachusetts to New Hampshire with one or more firearms.  Information further indicated that Blackmer had assembled the firearms in his workshop in Easthampton, Massachusetts from component parts that he had purchased on the Internet. 

          Later that day, surveillance officers watched Blackmer leave his home with the suspected firearms and then drive across the Massachusetts border into Winchester, New Hampshire.  Upon crossing the border, Blackmer was stopped by other law enforcement officers who executed a federal search warrant on Blackmer’s car. 

          Inside the trunk of Blackmer’s car were two AR-15 style rifles, rifle sites and a loaded magazine.  During a later search of a premises in Massachusetts that Blackmer used as a workshop, Easthampton police found nine firearms in various states of assembly, at least five of which were sufficiently complete to qualify as firearms under federal law.  In connection with his plea, Blackmer admitted that, at the time of the traffic stop and the execution of the warrants, he previously had been convicted of felonies on at least five prior occasions.  It is unlawful for a convicted felon to possess firearms.

          United States District Judge Steven J. McAuliffe imposed the sentence against Blackmer.  In addition to the prison term, Judge McAuliffe imposed a criminal fine of $1000 and ordered Blackmer to serve three years of supervised release after his release from prison.  While on supervised release, Blackmer will be required to abide by certain restrictions on his activities and other conditions set by the Court. 

          This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives in both Manchester, New Hampshire and in Springfield, Massachusetts, as well as the Easthampton, Massachusetts Police Department and the New Hampshire State Police.  The Office of the District Attorney for the Northwest District of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provided important support.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Bill Morse.

          This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a national initiative by the U.S. Department of Justice to reduce gun crime in America.

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