Sanford Man Pleads Guilty to String of Drug-Related Shootings at Homes: Faces Mandatory Minimum of 10 Years
Benjamin Ball, 31, of Sanford, a city in York County, Maine, pleaded guilty on November 2 in U.S. District Court in Portland, in Cumberland County, Maine, to discharging a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, conspiring to use and carry firearms during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and being a felon in possession of a firearm, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Maine announced.
According to court records, late in the evening on January 3, 2024, Ball fired a 9mm pistol into a residence in Lebanon, in York County, over a drug debt owed to a co-conspirator. Ball fired the pistol from the front passenger seat of a vehicle as it drove past the residence. The shooting was captured on a motion-activated security camera mounted on a house across the street, while the residents were home asleep in their beds.
Prosecutors said Ball also conspired with others to carry out two additional shootings at the Lebanon residence, and a shooting at a residence in Acton, using the 9mm pistol, a 12-gauge shotgun, and an AR-15. At the time of the shootings, Ball had previously been convicted of several felonies and was therefore prohibited from possessing firearms.
Two of Ball's co-conspirators, Jason Fernald, 47, and Evan Chapman, 28, previously pleaded guilty to their involvement in the shootings.
For the discharging-a-firearm count, Ball faces a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years, which must be served consecutively to the sentences on the other counts, and up to five years of supervised release. On each of the remaining counts, he faces a maximum of 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and up to three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced after the U.S. Probation Office completes a presentence investigative report, and a federal district judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.
The York County Sheriff's Office and the FBI's Southern Maine Gang Task Force investigated the case, with assistance from the Sanford, Kittery, and Gorham police departments, the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The case is part of the Department of Justice's Project Safe Neighborhoods program. (Source: U.S. Department of Justice)
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: Portland 的 Edward T. Gignoux 联邦法院大楼，Carol M. Highsmith 摄，美国国会图书馆藏，公共领域。The Edward T. Gignoux U.S. Courthouse in Portland, photographed by Carol M. Highsmith, Library of Congress, public domain.
