PORTLAND – A statewide crackdown on felons who keep firearms has caught up with former tire dump operator Peter A. Gordon of Greenwood.

Gordon, a felon since his 1986 conviction for selling marijuana, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to serve the next five years and three months in prison. The sentencing came after Gordon, 42, pleaded guilty in July to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

He was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after he gets out of prison.

U.S. Attorney Paula D. Silsby said the case was the result of an aggressive prosecution effort using evidence gathered in a April 8 raid of Gordon’s property. She praised the investigation conducted by the Maine Drug Enforcement Agency, Oxford County Sheriff’s Office, Bethel and Rumford police departments, Maine State Police and the Central Maine Violent Crime Task Force.

The case, said Silsby, shows how federal and state law enforcement agencies can work together in order to increase successful prosecution of firearms cases. The case is part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative begun a year ago that targets gun crime and violent offenders.

Police netted around 35 guns in the raid, including pistols, revolvers, shotguns and rifles. Two of the guns had obliterated serial numbers.

Gordon, who operated a huge tire dump on his 35-acre property until the state shut him down, was known for prior hostile incidents with area lawmen, Maine State Police spokesperson Steve McCausland said after the 4:30 a.m. raid.

With the State Police Tactical Team leading the way, police also recovered about a pound of marijuana, drug paraphernalia and a vacant mobile home that had been converted into a space for drying marijuana.

Gordon was initially charged with aggravated trafficking in marijuana, but those charges were dropped in a negotiated plea agreement.

Copy the Story Link