Guilty Plea for Possessing a Short-Barreled Rifle, Orono, Maine

A 27-year-old Orono man was in federal court Thursday and pleaded guilty to possessing an unregistered firearm. 

Louis J. Dettling from Orono, Maine faces a fine up to $10,000 and 10 years in prison. U.S. Attorney Darcie N. McElwee made the announcement on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

Court records said the Holden Police Department stopped Dettling on March 2, 2021. Police arrested him on outstanding state charges. Officers searched his vehicle and found a short-barreled rifle. Court records also said: “The rifle was not registered to him in the National Firearms Registration and Transfer Record. Federal law prohibits the possession of a rifle having a barrel of less than 16 inches in length unless that weapon is registered to the possessor in the NFRTR.”

The United States Probation Office will do a presentence investigation. Dettling will be sentenced after the report is finished. Statutory factors and United States sentencing guidelines are considered for sentencing. A federal district judge makes that determination.

Multiple agencies were involved in the investigation including the Holden Police Department and Lewiston Police Department. Also part of the case is the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office and the  Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. “The prosecution is part of the Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) initiative.”

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