Concord, N.H.-John J. Farley, Acting United States Attorney for the District of New Hampshire, announced that Micky Garst, Jr., 26, previously of Manchester, New Hampshire, was sentenced to spend 46 months in federal prison for his possession of two stolen firearms.
According to court documents and statements in court, on the morning of Aug. 19, 2015, Manchester Police investigating a reported fight outside a pizza parlor encountered a large crowd, including the defendant and a female companion. After investigating the source of the conflict, officers asked to search the companion’s vehicle, and she consented. Located in the trunk was a Colt.45 handgun that had been reported stolen from a home in Manchester four days earlier. Blood samples from the scene of the theft were later confirmed by the state crime lab as a match with Garst. Later, in February 2016, Garst took a Ruger firearm from the home of an acquaintance. The firearm was recovered after Garst stashed it in the dumpster of a nearby convenience store. Garst is prohibited from possessing firearms under federal law as a result of a prior felony conviction.
Garst, who pleaded guilty on March 16, 2017, will spend three years on supervised release after he is released from prison. Garst has been in state custody on a parole violation based on the above conduct since his arrest in March 2016. His federal sentence will run consecutive to his remaining undischarged time in state prison.
This matter was jointly investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives and the Manchester Police Department, with assistance from the New Hampshire State Police Forensic Laboratory. The case is part of ATF’s Project Safe Neighborhoods initiative, which is a federally-funded program intended to reduce gun violence through law enforcement training, public education, and aggressive law enforcement efforts to investigate and prosecute gun-related crimes. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles L. Rombeau.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
