Convicted felon gets 3 1/2 years in prison for role in gun purchasing scheme

Paul Feely, The New Hampshire Union Leader, Manchester
Updated ·2 min read
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Mar. 17—A convicted felon from Woonsocket, Rhode Island, was sentenced in federal court Thursday to 3 1/2 years in prison for conspiring with straw purchasers to buy him firearms, prosecutors said.

Mario Marques, 25, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Joseph Laplante to 42 months in prison and three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jane Young said in a release.

On Dec. 4, 2023, Marques pleaded guilty to conspiring to make false statements during the acquisition of firearms and to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

As a convicted felon, Marques was prohibited from possessing guns, Young said.

"Yet, he was undeterred by the law in his criminal pursuit as he recruited others to purchase guns for him," Young said in a statement. "The firearms Marques illegally possessed and sold were recovered during investigations of drug trafficking and shooting crimes. His customers included juveniles, gang members, and criminals."

According to court documents, between Sept. 30 and Nov. 20, 2021, Marques solicited straw purchasers to obtain firearms for him from multiple federally licensed firearms dealers in New Hampshire.

Marques selected the guns in advance for the straw purchasers to buy for him, and on several occasions accompanied the purchaser to a firearms dealership, where the purchaser lied on the forms required to purchase the guns by saying he was buying the guns for himself, when actually buying them for Marques.

Marques owned a Springfield Armory Model XD .40 caliber semiautomatic pistol purchased in New Hampshire, among other guns. Law enforcement officers recovered the pistol on June 3, 2022, while investigating a separate crime in Brockton, Mass.

Marques sold the firearm, as well as other guns that straw purchasers bought for him, to other individuals, including gang members, who used the weapons in connection with crimes.

"Far too often, the firearms that law enforcement officers seize during the commission of violent crimes, originate from straw purchasers," said James M. Ferguson, special agent in charge of ATF's Boston Field Division. "In order to combat gun violence, we need to attack it at its source, which is straw purchasing."