An Ellsworth man who engaged in a lengthy standoff with police in 2014 has been sentenced to more than six years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Jeffrey Barnard, 53, was sentenced Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to 78 months in prison and three years of supervised release. Barnard, who was sentenced by federal Judge John A. Woodcock, pleaded guilty to the charge last June.
According to a report on the standoff and subsequent shooting of Barnard by the Maine Attorney General’s office, Barnard barricaded himself inside his camper on May 31, 2014, when police arrived to investigate a report that Barnard was refusing to return the keys to a tractor belonging to a man who allowed Barnard and his wife to park their camper on his property. Barnard told officers over the next 20 hours that he had 100 rounds of ammunition and was prepared to use them against officers.
Barnard was shot in the face by police after he briefly left the camper when officers fired tear gas into it and Barnard pointed his rifle in the direction of police. Even after being shot, the report said, Barnard returned to the camper and threw a Molotov cocktail into a driveway that led to the camper.
The attorney general’s report, which said police were justified in using deadly force, said Barnard has previous convictions for being a felon in possession of a firearm, for assault on an officer, criminal mischief, criminal threatening, criminal trespass, disorderly conduct and violating the conditions of release.
Comments are not available on this story.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
