Raymond L. Blackmer, III, Illegal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon, New Hampshire 2016

Convict Pleads Guilty to Illicit Guns Possession

New Hampshire authorities have made a significant arrest, with Raymond L. Blackmer, III, pleading guilty to illegally possessing guns that he assembled from component parts in Massachusetts and then brought to New Hampshire.

On November 6, 2015, police surveillance units observed Blackmer leaving his Easthampton home with suspected firearms and then driving to and across the Massachusetts border into Winchester, N.H., where he was stopped by law enforcement officers for the purpose of executing a previously obtained federal search warrant on Blackmer’s car.

The warrant became effective when the officers observed Blackmer transporting the suspected firearms across the state line, thereby establishing probable cause that the interstate requirement of the federal crime of Illegal Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon was satisfied.

Law enforcement officers discovered two AR-15 style rifles, rifle sites and a loaded magazine in the trunk of Blackmer’s car upon executing the warrant. A later search of Blackmer’s workshop in Massachusetts yielded an additional nine firearms in various states of assembly, at least five which were completed enough to qualify as firearms under federal law.

According to statements made during today’s hearing, the Easthampton (Massachusetts) Police Department learned that Blackmer was intending to travel from Massachusetts to New Hampshire with one or more firearms.

United States District Judge Steven J. McAuliffe took Blackmer’s guilty plea and scheduled his sentencing for November 22, 2016. The plea agreement provides that both Blackmer and the government will recommend a total term of incarceration of seventy months, materially more than the anticipated advisory federal sentencing guideline range.

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