PORTLAND — A Massachusetts man was sentenced Tuesday to eight years in prison for possession of a firearm by a felon after a straw purchase in Saco in 2015.

Melson Jacques, 35, of Braintree, Massachusetts, was sentenced to prison on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Portland by Judge Jon D. Levy. He also received three years of supervised release for the crime, to which he pleaded guilty on March 3, 2016.

Acting U.S. Attorney Richard W. Murphy made the announcement Wednesday.

Court documents filed in U.S. District Court show that, in May 2015, Jacques coerced a drug-addicted Biddeford man to purchase a Glock 9 mm handgun for him and a drug-trafficking accomplice through a “straw purchase” at Weaponcraft, LLC in Saco.

Straw purchases, which are criminal acts, involve a person prohibited from buying firearms using another person to buy a gun on their behalf. The purchase, Murphy said, was surveilled by federal agents.

Jacques, who goes by the name Mike, was prohibited from possessing firearms in relation to multiple felony drug convictions in Massachusetts. He had been a fugitive wanted on felony warrants out of Massachusetts when he came to Maine in the spring of 2015. Murphy said Jacques came to Maine after fleeing an ongoing drug trafficking trial.
 
The investigation was conducted by the Saco Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Jacques faced an enhanced sentence for possessing the handgun while engaged in drug trafficking, the acting U.S. attorney said.

In imposing the sentence, Judge Levy noted Jacques’ lengthy criminal history and “disregard for the law,” according to Murphy.
 
— Staff Writer Alan Bennett can be contacted at 282-1535, ext. 329 or abennett@journaltribune.com.