West Greenwich Federal Firearms Case
Criminal Charges:
Man charged in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island for:
- Multiple Counts of Possession of Firearms and/or Ammunition by a Convicted Felon, in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 922(g)(1)
- Receiving and/or Possessing Firearm Silencers Not Registered, in violation of 26 U.S.C. § 5861(d)
- Violation of Supervised Release
City, State, County and Court:
West Greenwich, Rhode Island, Kent County
United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island
Case Overview:
A man was recently released from federal prison after serving out a sentence following his guilty pleas for violating federal firearms law. As a convicted felon, the man unlawfully possessed firearms, ammunition, and even silencers in violation of federal law. Authorities located these items upon executing a search warrant at the man’s home. He was arrested, charged, convicted, and sentenced. Once released from prison, he was placed onto federal supervised release, which is similar to probation where defendants are supervised by the court for a designated period of time. While on supervised release, federal probation officers conducted an unannounced visit to the man’s home. They searched inside and located additional firearms, ammunition, and silencers. Based on these discoveries, the man was re-arrested and recharged with new federal crimes. These new charges also served as the basis for a supervised release violation. After the man appeared in Court and was ordered held without bail, his girlfriend hired Federal Criminal Defense Lawyer, John L. Calcagni III, to defend him in this matter.
Case Result: All Charges Dismissed and Federal Supervised Release Reinstated.
Attorney Calcagni obtained a copy of the man’s previous lawyer. He compared photographs taken of items seized during the prior warrant execution with the items of physical evidence discovered by the probation officer. They matched. The girlfriend also conducted a full search of the apartment, which was in shambles and disarray. She found additional contraband not discovered or seized by the probation officer. Armed with this information, Attorney Calcagni was able to persuade the Court and federal prosecutors that the items recently seized were left over from, and neither discovered nor seized during the first warrant execution. After serving 4 months in pretrial custody, the man was released back onto federal supervised release and all charges were dismissed.