HONOLULU Melvyn Gear, 59, a citizen of both Great Britain and Australia, was sentenced Thursday in federal court by Senior United States District Judge Susan Qki Mollway to 15 months of imprisonment for the illegal possession of a fireman.
HONOLULU — Melvyn Gear, 59, a citizen of both Great Britain and Australia, was sentenced Thursday in federal court by Senior United States District Judge Susan Qki Mollway to 15 months of imprisonment for the illegal possession of a fireman.
He was convicted of being an alien illegally in possession of a fireman after a jury trial May 7-10.
Federal law prohibits a foreign national living in the United States from possessing any firearms. The evidence presented at trial demonstrated that Gear was in the United States on a non-immigrant visa in July 2017 when he possessed a rifle that had been shipped into the United States, which he had obtained in Australia. He then lied about it when questioned by federal law enforcement officers, a press release from the U.S. Attorney District of Hawaii stated.
“We will continue our efforts to prosecute anyone in Hawaii possessing a firearm in violation of federal law,” U.S. Attorney Kenji M. Price said.
At the sentencing hearing, Mollway rejected a defense request for a probationary sentence and noted that the conviction will likely result in deportation after Gear serves his prison term.
The case was investigated by the Department of Homeland Security, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and tl1e Hawaii County Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Atto1ney Marshall H. Silverberg and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Kauanoe Jackson.
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