Boston Man Convicted in Illegal Gun Running Scheme

BOSTON – A Boston man was sentenced today in connection with his role in a scheme to illegally transport firearms into Massachusetts.

Shayne Parker, 41, of Dorchester, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV to five years in prison and three years of supervised release.  In March 2016, Parker was convicted following a five-day trial of interstate transportation of firearms and being a felon in possession of 50 rounds of ammunition.  Parker has several felony convictions, including for violence and drug trafficking crimes.

In the spring of2014, a joint law enforcement investigation uncovered a scheme in which firearms were bought in gun stores in New Hampshire and transported to Massachusetts for sale on the streets of Boston.  The New Hampshire purchasers of the firearms were paid with drugs for their help. 

During the course of the scheme, 16 guns were trafficked into Boston within three-weeks using three different straw purchasers.  Ronald Scott, who was convicted in New Hampshire, purchased the guns and ammunition while Parker drove Scott to and from each of the five purchase locations in New Hampshire and handled the weapons and ammunition.

One of the guns – a 9mm semi-automatic firearm – was recovered on April 2, 2014, after Boston Police officers pursued and arrested a suspect.  The firearm had been purchased 11 days before by Parker and his associates.  In addition, during a search of a residence in Mattapan, law enforcement officers seized a .380 caliber semi-automatic weapon and a box containing 50 rounds of ammunition. The ammunition had been purchased just 22 days prior at Dick’s Sporting Goods in New Hampshire and transported to Massachusetts by Parker.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Daniel J. Kumor, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Boston Field Division; and Boston Police Commissioner William B. Evans, made the announcement.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Glenn MacKinlay of Ortiz's Organized Crime and Gang Unit.