A Syracuse, New York, man was sentenced on Monday in U.S. District Court in Bangor for conspiring to violate federal firearms laws and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge John A. Woodcock, Jr., sentenced Tyquinn Montell Cannon (aka Q), 32, to 45 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release. Cannon pleaded guilty on June 17, 2024.
According to court records, beginning in May 2022, Cannon knowingly conspired with others in Maine and New York to illegally obtain firearms at federally licensed firearms dealers (FFLs) in central and southern Maine using straw purchasers.
Two of the coconspirators in Maine would arrange for the straw purchase of firearms, and Cannon would deliver, or arrange the delivery of, the illegally obtained firearms to coconspirators in New York.
In September 2022, Cannon was found in possession of a Glock .40 calibre pistol, which had earlier been straw purchased at an FFL in Maine. Cannon is prohibited from possessing firearms due to felony drug convictions in Illinois.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, along with the Massachusetts State Police, investigated the case.
A straw purchase is an illegal firearm purchase where the actual buyer of the gun, being unable to pass the required federal background check or desiring not to have his or her name associated with the transaction, uses a proxy buyer who can pass the required background check to purchase the firearm for him/her.
