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BOSTON - A Fitchburg man was sentenced today in federal court for being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.
Kirk Lassend, 38, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge F. Dennis Saylor, IV, to 235 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Lassend was convicted by a trial jury of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition in October 2011.
Evidence presented during the trial proved that on July 12, 2010, Lassend brazenly displayed a firearm which he shot in the air several times on a crowded street with children in Fitchburg. When police responded, Lassend fled into an apartment building and hid the firearm in an empty storage closet. The responding officers quickly located Lassend and took him into custody due in part to 911 calls describing his appearance. Officers recovered a loaded magazine on his person which fit the firearm recovered from the empty storage closet. Officers also recovered a loose round of ammunition from Lassend during the booking process. A subsequent search of his home resulted in the recovery of a holster and second unloaded magazine which fit the firearm recovered from the empty storage closet.
United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz, Eugenio Marquez, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Field Division, and Fitchburg Police Chief Robert A. Demoura, made the announcement today. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cory S. Flashner and Karin M. Bell of Ortiz’s Worcester office.