Micky Garst, Jr., Possessing Firearms, New Hampshire 2017

Manchester Man Pleads Guilty to Possessing Firearms, Faces Sentencing in June

– Micky Garst, Jr., a 26-year-old man from Manchester, New Hampshire, pleaded guilty to a federal indictment charging him with the illegal possession of two firearms.

According to court documents and records, Garst’s guilty plea stems from a series of events that unfolded on August 19, 2015, when Manchester Police investigated a reported fight outside a pizza parlor. During the investigation, officers encountered a large crowd, including Garst and a female companion. After questioning the companion, police obtained consent to search her vehicle, where they found a stolen Colt .45 handgun in the trunk.

The handgun had been reported stolen from a home in Manchester four days earlier. Blood samples from the scene of the theft were later confirmed by the state crime lab to match Garst’s DNA. In February 2016, Garst took a Ruger firearm from the home of an acquaintance and hid it in a dumpster at a nearby convenience store.

Garst’s possession of firearms is prohibited under federal law due to a prior felony conviction. The case was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Manchester Police Department, with assistance from the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory.

The case is part of ATF’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, a federally-funded program aimed at reducing gun violence through law enforcement training, public education, and aggressive law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes.

A sentencing hearing has been scheduled for June 29, 2017. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau.

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