BOSTON – A Stoughton man pleaded guilty today in federal court in Boston to firearm offenses.
Michael Robert Moura, 28, pleaded guilty to one count of being a felon in possession of firearms and one count of receipt and possession of an unregistered firearm. U.S. Senior District Court Judge George A. O’Toole Jr. scheduled sentencing for Oct. 11, 2022. Moura was arrested and charged in April 2021.
Over the course of several months in 2020 and again in February 2021, Moura sought to purchase a firearm. On the morning of April 28, 2021, Moura purchased a Glock handgun, an assault rifle, pistol and rifle magazines and over 100 rounds of ammunition in a parking lot in Brockton. Shortly thereafter, Moura was arrested and the illegally obtained handgun, rifle, ammunition and magazines were seized.
Moura is prohibited from possessing firearms and ammunition due to an April 2020 conviction in Worcester County punishable by more than one year in prison.
Both charges provide for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins; Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; and James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Valuable assistance was provided the Brockton and Stoughton Police Departments. The investigation was led by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Benjamin Tolkoff and Timothy Kistner of Rollins’ Criminal Division are prosecuting the case.