Reports of Shots Fired Lead to Guilty Plea from Portland Man for Illegal Possession of a Firearm

PORTLAND, Maine: A Portland man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Portland to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

According to court records, on November 23, 2023, the Portland Police Department received reports of shots fired near the intersection of Commercial Street and Cross Street. The caller described the suspect pulling a firearm from his waistband and firing two shots into the air and provided a description of the vehicle. The description was later confirmed by video from a security camera located on a nearby building. Responding officers recovered two spent 9mm shell casings from the scene, and the vehicle was intercepted by South Portland police as it crossed the bridge into South Portland. After a brief attempt to flee, Mohamud Abdullahi, 31, was arrested. The firearm used in the shooting was recovered the next day from the front lawn of a residence near where the vehicle had been stopped.

Abdullahi’s previous convictions in Cumberland County Superior Court, including for assault and aggravated criminal trespass in 2017 and unlawful trafficking of scheduled drugs in 2011, preclude him from possessing firearms. He faces up to 15 years imprisonment and a maximum fine of $250,000. Any sentence would be followed by up to three years of supervised release. A federal district judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI, Portland Police Department, and South Portland Police Department investigated the case.

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