BANGOR, Maine — The man who caused a standoff with police last summer on the Fourth of July that diverted the annual parade could face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in federal prison if his record in New York classifies him as an armed career criminal.
Perrin Q. Oliver, 45, of Bangor pleaded guilty in December to being a felon in possession of a firearm. He faces up to 10 years in prison.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge George Singal found Oliver competent to be sentenced at Monday’s hearing but did not set a date for a sentencing hearing.
Oliver recently returned from a forensic psychological evaluation at a federal prison medical facility in Devens, Massachusetts. The results of that evaluation were sealed Monday but will be discussed in open court at the sentencing, Singal said.
Defense attorney Jeffrey Silverstein of Bangor said Monday that he requested the evaluation in March after a meeting with Oliver in which his client had trouble participating in the discussion. Silverstein did not object Monday to any of the findings in the evaluation.
The U.S. Department of Probation and Pretrial Services has not completed its presenting report, which the judge will use to help him determine what sentence to impose, according to Silverstein.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew McCormick, who is prosecuting the case, told the judge that the probation officer writing the report was having difficulty getting Oliver’s criminal history from New York in a timely manner.
If Oliver has three prior convictions in any state for crimes considered to be violent felonies or serious drug crimes, he would face between 15 years and life in prison. Because the mandatory minimum was passed by the U.S. Congress, Singal would not be able to fashion an alternative sentence that would take Oliver’s mental illness into consideration, according to Silverstein.
By pleading guilty last year, Oliver, who is a native of Detroit, Michigan, admitted possessing a Rossi .38-caliber revolver and a Sig Sauer .380-caliber semi-automatic pistol, according to the prosecution version of the offense to which he pleaded guilty. Information about what led up to the standoff and how he obtained the guns has not been outlined in court documents.
He fired 70 rounds of ammunition in his Park Street apartment, located behind Bangor City Hall, and through the window, according to Bangor police. No one was hurt in the standoff.
Oliver had the revolver in his front waistband when he was arrested, the court document said. The pistol was found in a safe in his apartment.
He was prohibited from having guns because of a 2008 conviction in New York for illegally possessing a weapon, the prosecution version said.