缅因州桑福德市31岁男子联邦法院认罪：涉2024年毒品相关连环枪击
缅因州约克县桑福德市（Sanford）一名31岁男子11月2日在缅因州坎伯兰县波特兰市的联邦地区法院认罪，承认三项联邦枪支罪名，涉及2024年初在缅因州约克县黎巴嫩镇和阿克顿镇发生的一系列毒品相关枪击事件。
美国司法部表示，Benjamin Ball 11月2日认罪，罪名包括在毒品贩运犯罪期间开枪、合谋在犯罪期间使用和携带枪支，以及作为重罪犯持有枪支。其中开枪一项面临10年强制最低刑期，且须与其他罪名的刑期连续执行。量刑将在美国缓刑办公室完成审前调查报告后确定。
根据法庭记录，2024年1月3日晚，Ball 因一名同谋被拖欠毒品债务，向黎巴嫩镇一处住宅内开了一支9毫米手枪。司法部还表示，Ball 与他人合谋，用同一支9毫米手枪、一支12号霰弹枪和一支 AR-15 步枪，对黎巴嫩镇住宅实施了另外两起枪击，并在阿克顿镇一处住宅实施了一起枪击。
Ball 的两名同谋 Jason Fernald 和 Evan Chapman 此前已认罪。此案由约克县警长办公室和联邦调查局南缅因州帮派专案组调查，桑福德、基特里和戈勒姆警方等机构协助。
（来源：美国司法部）
Sanford Man, 31, Pleads Guilty in Federal Court Over 2024 Drug-Related Shootings
A 31-year-old man from Sanford, York County, Maine, pleaded guilty on November 2 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Cumberland County, to three federal firearm charges tied to a series of drug-related shootings in the York County towns of Lebanon and Acton in early 2024.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Benjamin Ball pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, conspiring to use and carry firearms during such a crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The discharge count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, to be served consecutively to the other counts. Sentencing will be set after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation report.
According to court records, late on January 3, 2024, Ball fired a 9mm pistol into a residence in Lebanon over a drug debt owed to a co-conspirator. The Justice Department said Ball also conspired with others to carry out two additional shootings at the Lebanon residence and one at a residence in Acton, using the same 9mm pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AR-15 rifle.
Two of Ball's co-conspirators, Jason Fernald and Evan Chapman, previously pleaded guilty. The case was investigated by the York County Sheriff's Office and the FBI's Southern Maine Gang Task Force, with assistance from the Sanford, Kittery and Gorham police departments and other agencies.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
来源：美国司法部
发布：GSM·美国（发布链接）
图片来源：图：缅因州波特兰市天际线。Paul VanDerWerf 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The skyline of Portland, Maine. By Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
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