Leah B. Foley United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts | Department of Justice
A Lynn resident, Derrick J. Poe, pleaded guilty on April 24 in federal court in Boston to unlawfully possessing firearms and ammunition as a convicted felon.
Poe, age 40, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge Brian E. Murphy, who scheduled sentencing for August 4. According to the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts, Poe was charged by criminal complaint in February and remains in federal custody pending sentencing.
Court documents state that between December 2 and December 18 of last year, Poe sold crack cocaine to undercover law enforcement officers during three separate controlled purchases in Salem. After the third transaction, authorities arrested Poe and searched his residence in Lynn where they found suspected crack cocaine, evidence related to drug distribution, three firearms—including two privately made pistols with no serial numbers often called “ghost guns”—and ammunition. The third firearm had been reported stolen from Columbus, Ohio.
Poe is barred from owning firearms or ammunition due to multiple prior felony convictions from Alabama and Massachusetts dating back to at least 2006. His previous offenses include unlawful possession of a controlled substance and robbery (for which he received concurrent sentences), receiving stolen property (2012), and possession with intent to distribute Class B drugs (2016). Sentences were partly suspended but included time served and probation periods.
The charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm carries a maximum sentence of up to fifteen years’ imprisonment along with supervised release and fines as determined by federal guidelines.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley said her office advances community initiatives on civil rights and violence prevention according to the official website. The office enforces federal laws through prosecutions involving national security threats as well as civil rights violations according to the official website. It also serves all residents across Massachusetts through offices located at the John Joseph Moakley United States Federal Courthouse in Boston with branches in Springfield and Worcester according to the official website.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is part of the Department of Justice according to the official website, employing over two hundred attorneys, paralegals, and staff members statewide according to the official website. The office has handled prosecutions since its establishment among America’s earliest such entities dating back more than two centuries according to the official website.
