Sanford Man, 31, Pleads Guilty in Federal Court Over 2024 Drug-Related Shootings
A 31-year-old man from Sanford, York County, Maine, pleaded guilty on November 2 in U.S. District Court in Portland, Cumberland County, to three federal firearm charges tied to a series of drug-related shootings in the York County towns of Lebanon and Acton in early 2024.
The U.S. Department of Justice said Benjamin Ball pleaded guilty to discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, conspiring to use and carry firearms during such a crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. The discharge count carries a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, to be served consecutively to the other counts. Sentencing will be set after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigation report.
According to court records, late on January 3, 2024, Ball fired a 9mm pistol into a residence in Lebanon over a drug debt owed to a co-conspirator. The Justice Department said Ball also conspired with others to carry out two additional shootings at the Lebanon residence and one at a residence in Acton, using the same 9mm pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun and an AR-15 rifle.
Two of Ball's co-conspirators, Jason Fernald and Evan Chapman, previously pleaded guilty. The case was investigated by the York County Sheriff's Office and the FBI's Southern Maine Gang Task Force, with assistance from the Sanford, Kittery and Gorham police departments and other agencies.
(Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：缅因州波特兰市天际线。Paul VanDerWerf 摄，CC BY 2.0，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The skyline of Portland, Maine. By Paul VanDerWerf, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
