BANGOR — A Phillips woman was sentenced Tuesday to the two-and-a-half months she spent in federal custody awaiting sentencing for having lied when she bought two guns in 2021.
Deidra Messer, 36, had pleaded guilty in September 2023 to making false statements during the purchase of a firearm.
On federal forms, she had written that she was the “actual buyer” of the two handguns, meaning she wasn’t buying them for someone else. She also wrote that she was not using or addicted to illegal drugs at the time of the purchases.
That federal felony is punishable by up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.
In her plea agreement, Messer promised not to appeal any sentence shorter than 19 months in prison.
On Tuesday, Messer was sentenced to the time she served in jail awaiting sentencing.
She had been freed from federal custody while awaiting sentencing, but had been arrested after violating terms of her release by failing to answer phone calls and texts from her probation officer, failing to show up for counseling sessions and testing positive for use of illegal drugs.
U.S. District Court Judge Lance E. Walker also sentenced Messer on Tuesday to be on supervised release for two years.
According to investigators, Messer had been using heroin and crack cocaine throughout October 2021.
On Oct. 18, 2021, Messer bought two guns from a federally licensed gun dealer in Farmington, including a Glock G45 model, 9 mm pistol that she had been purchasing for someone else, according to court records.
“The defendant falsely certified as true, correct, and complete . . . that she was the actual transferee/buyer of the Glock pistol listed on the form,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew K. Lizotte wrote in court papers.
Also on that date, she had bought a Smith & Wesson Bodyguard model, .38-caliber pistol.
“The defendant also falsely certified as true, correct, and complete . . . that she was not an unlawful user of, or addicted to, any controlled substance,” Lizotte wrote.
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