Brian Mills, Providing Firearm to Felon, New York 2023

A former corrections officer from Dannemora, New York, has been sentenced to 21 months in prison for knowingly providing a firearm to a felon.

Brian Mills, 39, admitted to trading a shotgun, an Armalite rifle, ammunition, an ammunition magazine, and two body armor vests to Dustin J. Manor at Manor’s apartment in Plattsburgh, New York, during the summer of 2022. Mills knew that Manor was a felon, which made him federally prohibited from possessing the firearms and ammunition due to his 2014 drug felony convictions.

Manor was federally prohibited from possessing the firearms and ammunition due to his 2014 drug felony convictions for which he was sentenced to 5 years in state prison. He was previously sentenced in August to 57 months in prison and 3 years’ supervised release for possessing the .410-gauge shotgun and ammunition as a felon.

The Plattsburgh Police Department seized the shotgun, one .44 magnum round of ammunition, shotgun rounds, and a set of RTS Tactical Level IV ceramic body armor from Manor’s Plattsburgh apartment on October 20, 2022, after responding to a domestic incident there.

Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn also imposed a 2-year term of supervised release to begin after Mills is released from prison.

Mills had been employed as a corrections officer at Clinton Correctional Facility but resigned his position following his arrest. The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations and the Plattsburgh Police Department, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas G. Collyer prosecuted the case.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the charges against Mills are a serious offense that undermines public safety and the integrity of the justice system. The sentence sends a clear message that providing firearms to felons will be met with severe consequences.

The case highlights the importance of community members coming forward to report suspicious activity and the tireless efforts of law enforcement agencies to hold those accountable who break the law.

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