The feds take it seriously when a criminal possesses firearms — no matter how minor the crime. Especially when its a drug user who steals silencers and laser sights.
Kevin S. Lahey was sentenced to more than seven years prison for possessing seven firearms while being a consumer of controlled substances — the feds found evidence of cannabis when they searched his home after a shoplifting arrest.
While authorities offered no evidence that Lahey had nefarious plans, U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates warned the shoplifting could have been a prelude to something more serious.
“The significant sentence imposed by the court serves as a warning that illegal possession of a firearm will be taken seriously by the United States,” Yates said in a prepared statement. “Here, federal and local law enforcement agencies were able to work together to avert what could have been a tragedy by identifying and arresting Kevin Lahey before he could use his weapons to harm others in the community.”
Lahey stole two silencers from a Lawrenceville gun dealer in February 2013, and three days later, Snellville police arrested Lahey on charges of shoplifting at Wal-Mart, Yates said. He was accused of trying to steal two laser sights, a rifle bi-pod and a holster.
Apparently, Lahey resisted arrest because officers in that case reported that during the scuffle Lahey dropped a loaded handgun, Yates said.
Snellville police identified Lahey as the thief of silencers in Lawrenceville and contacted the Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms who got a warrant for Lahey’s arrest and to search his Lilburn home, Yates said.
That searched found a silencer attached to a .22-caliber pistol and they later found another silencer in the home’s crawlspace plus multiple other firearms, Yates said.
Neither silencer was registered with the National Firearms and Registration and Transfer Record as required by federal law. The agents also seized 10,000 rounds of ammo, military-style and hunting knives, marijuana bongs and other paraphernalia. The Lilburn man also had body armor.
Following a guilty plea in December, Lahey, 27, was convicted of being in illegal possession of seven firearms while being an unlawful user of controlled substances.
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