Jermane Merlyn Samuel, 36, of Enfield, Conn., walked into federal court in Springfield and admitted to handling two untraceable Glock pistols with serial numbers deliberately scratched off — a move straight out of the gunrunner playbook.
Samuel pleaded guilty to one count of receiving and possessing two firearms with obliterated serial numbers — a Model 27 .40 caliber Glock and a Model 17 9mm Glock — both recovered from a hotel parking lot in West Springfield on Sept. 20, 2018. The location, a roadside node off the I-91 corridor, has long been a hotspot for interstate criminal traffic.
The guns were not just hidden — they were stripped of their identities. Serial numbers scraped clean. That’s not an accident. That’s a calculated step to erase a paper trail and arm the underground. Federal prosecutors say Samuel knowingly received and held onto those weapons, placing him squarely in the crosshairs of federal gun laws.
U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni has set sentencing for July 31, 2019. Samuel now faces up to five years behind bars, three years of supervised release, and a $250,000 fine — penalties designed to hit hard and deter others playing Russian roulette with federal weapons statutes.
“Guns with defaced serial numbers don’t end up on the street by mistake,” said United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling. “They’re meant to vanish into the criminal ecosystem. Today’s plea rips one link out of that chain.” Kelly Brady, Special Agent in Charge of the ATF’s Boston Field Division, stood beside him in the announcement, underscoring the bureau’s push to track ghost guns at every turn.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Katharine A. Wagner, handling the prosecution from Lelling’s Springfield Branch Office, laid the groundwork for conviction without trial. No jury needed. Samuel’s admission seals the case — but the real sentence will be served behind prison walls, not in headlines.
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Related Federal Cases
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Key Facts
- State: Massachusetts
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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