More Prison Time Over Possession of Firearm

Joseph O’Brien

Twenty-four-year-old Joseph O’Brien will serve an additional ten years in prison after being found guilty of a firearm offense.  In April 2013, O’Brien was busted at the Lord Ridge Cemetery in possession of an empty firearm concealed inside a knee brace.  According to Police Constable Derrick Reid, a team of officers was on mobile patrol in the vicinity of Militia Hall when they observed O’Brien riding a bicycle in the opposite direction.  A search of his person led to the discovery of a handgun.  Notwithstanding the fact that the weapon was not loaded, the repeat felon wasted no time and pleaded guilty to keeping an unlicensed firearm.  This morning, he appeared unrepresented before Senior Magistrate Sharon Frazer where he was sentenced to ten more years of jail time.  Fortunately for O’Brien the prison term will run concurrently with a nineteen-year sentence for other offences, including robbery, theft and aggravated assault.  Court records indicate that O’Brien was recently convicted and sentenced to fourteen years for robbery and aggravated assault.  He was also found guilty of possession of an unlicensed firearm and ammunition and imprisoned for five years by Chief Magistrate Anne Marie Smith.