A Milford man arrested last October in connection with a burglary and theft of firearms from a Bangor pawn shop pleaded guilty to federal guns charges Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor, according to U.S. attorney’s office.
Travis Stinson, 39, is charged with stealing firearms from a licensed firearms dealer and possessing firearms after having been convicted of a felony crime, according to federal prosecutors.
Federal investigators and Bangor police detectives say that Stinson and another man, who has not been charged, agreed on Oct. 12 of last year to steal guns from JG Pawn Shop, located at 99 Center St.
The man agreed to do the burglary in order to get drugs, authorities said. Stinson drove the man to a parking lot near the pawn shop, where the unidentified man broke a window, stole 16 handguns and fled. Stinson drove them both away, along with the stolen handguns.
At the time of the break in, Stinson was prohibited from possessing firearms because of felony convictions in Kentucky.
Stinson faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.
Shortly after his arrest on Oct. 15, Bangor police were familiar with Stinson because he had acted as a confidential informant in previous cases, according to an affidavit filed at the Penobscot County Judicial Center at the time.
Stinson previously told investigators that drug dealers from out of state “were taking stolen firearms in exchange for drugs and then sending them out of state to street gangs in Boston, New York and Connecticut.”
Stinson faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each charge. He will be sentenced after the completion of a presentence investigation report by the U.S. Probation Office.