An Albion man pleaded guilty Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to a charge of providing false statements to a licensed federal firearms dealer in Palmyra in 2018.
Charles Viles, 31, represented in writing that he was buying firearms for himself, despite knowing he was buying them for someone else, according to a statement released Tuesday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Maine.
The “straw purchase” was for a convicted felon who was legally prohibited from buying or possessing the firearms, according to the statement, which defined a “straw purchase” as an illegal firearms purchase in which the actual buyer of the gun, being unable to pass the required federal background check or desiring not to have his or her name associated with the transaction, uses a proxy buyer, who can pass the required background check to buy the firearm for the other person.
“Viles faces up to five years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000 and up to three years of supervised release,” according to the statement. “He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.”
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Massachusetts State Police investigated the case, and the Middlesex County District Attorney’s Office in Massachusetts assisted in the investigation.
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