Sanford男子因毒品债务向住宅连环开枪认罪：面临至少10年强制刑期
位于缅因州 York County 的 Sanford 市31岁男子 Benjamin Ball，11月2日在缅因州 Cumberland County 的 Portland 市联邦法院认罪，罪名包括在毒品交易犯罪中开枪、在毒品交易犯罪中共谋使用和携带枪支，以及重罪前科人员持有枪支。美国司法部缅因区联邦检察官办公室当日宣布了这一认罪。
据法庭记录，2024年1月3日深夜，Ball 因一名同伙被拖欠毒品债务，坐在一辆行驶中汽车的前排乘客座上，用一把9毫米手枪向 York County 的 Lebanon 市一处住宅开枪。当时住户正在家中床上熟睡，枪击过程被对面住宅安装的感应式安防摄像头拍下。
检方表示，Ball 还与他人共谋，用同一把9毫米手枪对 Lebanon 那处住宅再实施两轮枪击，并用9毫米手枪、一支12号口径霰弹枪和一支 AR-15 步枪向 Acton 市一处住宅开枪。案发时 Ball 已有多项重罪前科，依法不得持有任何枪支。
Ball 的两名同伙 Jason Fernald（47岁）与 Evan Chapman（28岁）此前已就其参与枪击的行为认罪。
量刑方面，开枪罪一项设有10年法定最低刑期，且必须与其余罪名的刑期连续执行，不得合并；其余每项罪名最高可判20年监禁、罚款最高25万美元，并可处最高3年监督释放。Ball 将在美国缓刑办公室完成审前调查报告后量刑，联邦地区法官将结合联邦量刑指南等法定因素决定具体刑期。
此案由 York County 警长办公室与联邦调查局（FBI）南缅因帮派专案组查办，Sanford、Kittery 与 Gorham 三地警局、缅因州内陆渔业与野生动物部、烟酒枪炮及爆炸物管理局（ATF）与缉毒局（DEA）协助。检方表示，此案属于司法部「安全社区计划」（Project Safe Neighborhoods）的一部分。（来源：美国司法部）
Sanford Man Pleads Guilty to String of Drug-Related Shootings at Homes: Faces Mandatory Minimum of 10 Years
Benjamin Ball, 31, of Sanford, a city in York County, Maine, pleaded guilty on November 2 in U.S. District Court in Portland, in Cumberland County, Maine, to discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, conspiring to use and carry firearms during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine announced.
According to court records, late in the evening on January 3, 2024, Ball fired a 9mm pistol into a residence in Lebanon, in York County, over a drug debt owed to a co-conspirator. Ball fired the pistol from the front passenger seat of a vehicle as it drove past the residence. The shooting was captured on a motion-activated security camera mounted on a house across the street, while the residents were home asleep in their beds.
Prosecutors said Ball also conspired with others to carry out two additional shootings at the Lebanon residence, and a shooting at a residence in Acton, using the 9mm pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, and an AR-15. At the time of the shootings, Ball had previously been convicted of several felonies and was therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.
Two of Ball's co-conspirators, Jason Fernald, 47, and Evan Chapman, 28, previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the shootings.
For the discharging-a-firearm count, Ball faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, which must be served consecutively to the sentences on the other counts, and up to five years of supervised release. On each of the remaining counts, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigative report, and a federal district judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The York County Sheriff's Office and the FBI's Southern Maine Gang Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Sanford, Kittery, and Gorham police departments, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods program. (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：Portland 的 Edward T. Gignoux 联邦法院大楼，Carol M. Highsmith 摄，美国国会图书馆藏，公共领域。The Edward T. Gignoux U.S. Courthouse in Portland, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, public domain.
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