A New Hampshire resident has been sentenced in a Portland, Maine federal court for making false statements in an attempt to purchase a firearm. Chief U.S. District Judge Lance E. Walker sentenced Brandon Pinard, 33, to time served—approximately nine months—and three years of supervised release. Pinard had entered a guilty plea on November 19, 2024.
Court documents reveal that in May 2024, the Seabrook Police Department in New Hampshire received a firearms denial notice indicating that Pinard was prevented from purchasing a long gun in Bath, Maine. During his attempt to buy a Daniel Defense DDM4 assault rifle, Pinard provided a Dover, N.H., address and falsely answered "No" to the question on ATF Form 4473 about prior felony convictions or military charges that could result in imprisonment for more than one year.
At the time of this attempted purchase, Pinard was legally barred from owning firearms due to a felony sex offense conviction from Massachusetts dating back to 2013. He had been registered as a sex offender in Seabrook since moving there from Dover in November 2022.
The investigation into the case was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives with assistance from the Seabrook Police Department.