AUBURN — A local man convicted of domestic violence assault in 2010 was found guilty Thursday of having a firearm, which he was not allowed to possess.

Willie R. Minor, 59, was convicted after a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Portland.

He faces up to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.

Prosecutors showed at trial that Minor possessed a .38-caliber pistol after he had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence assault in 2010 involving his wife at the time. Because of that conviction, he had been prohibited from having any firearm, according to court records.

In November 2016, he was interviewed by Auburn police and admitted to having a gun.

Roughly a year ago, a jury acquitted Minor on rape, sex trafficking and assault charges after a four-day trial in Androscoggin County Superior Court in Auburn.

Minor had been charged with four felonies, including gross sexual assault, aggravated sex trafficking and aggravated assault, and felony domestic violence assault.

A 45-year-old woman who was homeless, addicted to crack and heroin and working as a prostitute to feed her drug habit testified she had met Minor on a Lewiston Street in the summer of 2016.

She said he raped her, then forced her into prostitution after she had stopped the practice when she moved into his apartment.

On the witness stand, she said Minor had forced her to advertise online for oral sex and suffered regular beatings at his hands, including an assault with a sledge hammer on Thanksgiving morning when he gave her a scalp wound.

She said he had threatened her with a handgun he kept in a locked bathroom cabinet.

Minor’s testimony countered his alleged victim’s account, telling the jury he was the one who suffered her assaults. He said the two of them had consensual sex and she had full control of her prostitution practice after she drained his bank account to support her drug habit.

Minor was convicted and sentenced on the federal charge after a trial in December 2017. While the case was pending on appeal, the U.S. Supreme Court issued a decision that changed what the government is required to prove in certain federal firearm possession cases. The parties in this case agreed to have the original conviction vacated and retried.

At his recent trial, prosecutors were required to prove not only that Minor had been convicted of assaulting his wife, but also that he knew he had been convicted of that crime and had been aware of certain details of the conviction.

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