Skip to main content
Press Release

Pennsylvania Woman Sentenced For Possesion, Sale And Transprortation Of A Stolen Firearm

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of New York

CONTACT:      Barbara Burns
PHONE:         (716) 843-5817
FAX:            (716) 551-3051
 
ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul, Jr, announced today that Ciera Leann Bennett, 23, of Lawrenceville, Pennsylvania, who was convicted of possession and sale of a stolen firearm and transportation of a stolen firearm over state lines, was sentenced to 16 months in prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci.
 
Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles E. Moynihan, who handled the case, stated that Bennett was arrested after an investigation by the Pennsylvania State Police into the theft of a .38 caliber revolver from owner, Peggy Bennett, who lived in Tioga, Pennsylvania.  On April 26, 2012, Bennett and co-defendant Danelle Wilson transported the stolen .38 caliber revolver from Tioga, Pennsylvania, to Elmira, NY, and sold it in order to buy drugs.

On December 31, 2012, the firearm was recovered in Ithaca, NY. Ballistic testing concluded that the firearm had been used in an officer-related shooting in October of 2012 which seriously injured an Ithaca police officer.     

The sentencing is the culmination of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Pennsylvania State Police.

Updated August 10, 2015