Department of Justice

BOSTON – A Lawrence man was sentenced yesterday for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

Nathaniel Toribio, 22, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. to 21 months in prison and three years of supervised release. In November 2020, Toribio pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Toribio was federally charged in July 2020.

On Nov. 24, 2019, state parole officers were in Lawrence in an attempt to locate Toribio, who had removed his GPS monitoring device and absconded from parole supervision. Upon locating Toribio, the officers discovered an un-holstered, loaded firearm inside Toribio’s waistband. The firearm was identified as a Ruger Security-9 9mm pistol with 10 rounds of ammunition in the magazine.

Due to previous convictions punishable by more than one year in prison, Toribio is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition.

Acting United States Attorney Nathaniel R. Mendell and Kelly D. Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided by the Massachusetts Parole Board, Lawrence Police Department and the Essex County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip C. Cheng of Mendell’s Narcotics and Money Laundering Unit prosecuted the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.