UNITED STATES ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
District of Vermont


November 6, 2007

FAIRFAX MAN SENTENCED FOR GUN VIOLATION

The Office of the United States Attorney for the District of Vermont stated that Jeffrey Russell, 44, of Fairfax, Vermont, was sentenced yesterday in United States District Court to time served since his detention on August 23, 2007, for possessing firearms while subject to a final order of relief from abuse. United States District Judge J. Garvan Murtha, sitting in Brattleboro, ordered also that Russell serve three years of supervised release and pay a $250 fine.

According to court documents, Russell was subject to a final order of relief from abuse that prohibited contact with an intimate partner. The order was issued by a Vermont Family Court Judge sitting in Franklin County. When Vermont State Police troopers were dispatched to Russell's home on September 14, 2006, to investigate an alleged violation of the order, they found Russell in possession of two firearms. The troopers seized Russell's guns and referred the matter to the United States Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), which investigated the matter further and arrested Russell on September 26, 2006. Federal law prohibits persons who are subject to a final order of relief from abuse from possessing firearms.

U.S. Attorney Thomas D. Anderson commended the efforts of the Vermont State Police and ATF in investigating the case. Russell was represented by Federal Public Defender Michael Desautels. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Craig Nolan.

U.S. Attorney Anderson noted that this prosecution is part of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Project Safe Neighborhood, a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America. Led by the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Project Safe Neighborhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend, and prosecute individuals who violate federal gun laws. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhood and Project Safe Vermont, please visit: www.psn.gov.