Mass. man gets five years for trafficking firearms, including to juveniles

CONCORD - A Massachusetts man was sentenced in federal court for conspiring to traffic firearms, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced today.

Julius Clemente, 26, was sentenced to the statutory maximum penalty of 60 months in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Clemente pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit firearms trafficking in February.

"The defendant's criminal conduct resulted in more than two dozen firearms being illegally trafficked into Massachusetts," said U.S. Attorney Jane E. Young. "The consequences of his crime led to a juvenile being armed with a weapon, a weapon that was used in multiple shootings, one of which injured another juvenile. In addition, the defendant's crime was motivated by pure greed. The imposition of the highest possible sentence under the law sends a clear message that such conduct will result in a significant period of imprisonment."

"Trafficking firearms results in additional crimes being committed and this sentence demonstrates ATF's continued perseverance to stopping these crimes," said ATF Special Agent in Charge James Ferguson.

Clemente conspired to traffic 25 firearms, four of which have since been recovered in Massachusetts. One of the firearms was recovered from the waistband of a 14-year-old boy. That firearm was previously used in four shootings in Boston, including a non-fatal shooting of a 16-year-old. The defendant's text messages indicated that he identified customers, controlled pricing, kept a substantial portion of the profits, and destroyed firearm serial numbers, making them harder for law enforcement to trace. In addition, the defendant solicited a drug customer to serve as a straw purchaser of firearms.