ERIE, Pa. — Former Jamestown resident Michael Deniro Hackett was sentenced by U.S. District Judge David S. Cercone to 46 months for violating federal firearms laws.

From March 9, 2020, to July 21, 2020, the now 43-year-old Hackett and two co-defendants allegedly conspired to violate federal straw purchase laws. The two co-defendants reportedly acquired firearms for Hackett who was prohibited from possessing firearms based on prior criminal convictions.

Buying a gun for someone prohibited by law from possessing one is considered a “straw purchase.”

During sentencing, the U.S. Attorney’s Office described how Hackett had “recruited, coerced, and intimidated straw purchasers without prior criminal histories to purchase firearms on behalf of Hackett.”

Cercone, in sentencing Hackett, highlighted the role that the straw purchase of firearms has played in the rising instances of gun violence in the area. Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Sellers prosecuted the case on behalf of the government.

The acting U.S. Attorney commended the Pennsylvania State Police, Conewango Police Department, and Homeland Security Investigations for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Hackett.