A Millinocket resident, Jeffrey Barnard, has entered a guilty plea in U.S. District Court in Portland for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The incident leading to his arrest occurred in March 2023 when an officer from the East Millinocket Police Department conducted a registration check on a vehicle. The check revealed that the vehicle was registered to an individual with a suspended driver's permit.
The officer stopped the vehicle, and during the confrontation with Barnard, who was driving, he was arrested with help from another officer and a private citizen. A search uncovered a .22 caliber revolver in Barnard's jacket pocket. Due to his criminal history, including a 2017 conviction for being a felon in possession of a firearm after an armed standoff with police in Ellsworth, Barnard is prohibited from possessing firearms.
Barnard could face up to 15 years in prison and fines reaching $250,000, followed by up to three years of supervised release. His sentencing will occur after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation report. A federal district judge will decide on the sentence based on U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) investigated this case with support from the East Millinocket Police Department.
