John Haggerty, 34, of Fulton, New York, is headed to federal prison for more than five years after admitting to possessing a stolen rifle and live ammunition — items he wasn’t allowed to touch due to a prior felony conviction.
Haggerty was sentenced yesterday to sixty-three (63) months behind bars, following his guilty plea to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition. The conviction stems from a December 2015 incident when the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office recovered a stolen Browning .308 Rifle and 20 rounds of Winchester .308 caliber ammunition from his apartment in Fulton.
Haggerty admitted he stole the weapon and ammo from an unoccupied Jeep on December 3, 2015. Days later, he filed off the gun’s serial number in a crude attempt to erase its trail — a move that only deepened the federal charges against him.
Because Haggerty had a prior felony conviction, federal law barred him from possessing any firearm or ammunition. That status turned a state-level theft into a serious federal offense, prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York.
U.S. District Judge David N. Hurd also slapped Haggerty with three (3) years of supervised release post-incarceration, adding a layer of oversight once he reenters society. The sentence sends a clear message: illegally armed felons will face steep consequences.
The case was jointly investigated by the Oswego County Sheriff’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) New York Field Division, and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Geoffrey J. L. Brown.
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Key Facts
- State: New York
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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