Department of Justice

Portland, Maine: A Rhode Island man was sentenced yesterday in federal court in Portland for providing false information in connection with the acquisition of firearms from a licensed dealer, U.S. Attorney Halsey B. Frank announced.

U.S. District Court Judge Nancy Torresen sentenced Salvador Rodrigues, 23, of Pawtucket, Rhode Island, to 23 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Rodrigues pleaded guilty on November 21, 2019.

According to court records, on five separate occasions between April 2018 and August 2018, Rodrigues purchased firearms from Kittery Trading Post. During each of the five purchases, Rodrigues presented an invalid Maine driver’s license and/or falsely claimed in writing that he had not been convicted of a felony offense. In fact, he had been convicted in Rhode Island of felony possession of a pistol without a license and a felony drug offense in May 2018.

The Pawtucket Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated the case, which was brought as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN). PSN is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime. For more information about PSN please visit www.justice.gov/psn.

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