Former Corrections Officer Admits Providing Firearm to Felon

ALBANY, NEW YORK - Brian Mills, age 39, a resident of Dannemora, New York, pled guilty yesterday to knowingly providing a firearm to a felon.

United States Attorney Carla B. Freedman; Matthew Scarpino, Special Agent in Charge, Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Buffalo Field Office; and Plattsburgh Police Chief Peter Mitchell made the announcement.

Mills admitted that at various times during summer 2022, he traded a New England Firearms Company Model Pardner-SP1 .410-gauge shotgun, an Armalite rifle, ammunition, an ammunition magazine and two body armor vests to Dustin J. Manor at Manor's apartment in Plattsburgh, New York, knowing that Manor was a felon. On October 20, 2022, the Plattsburgh Police Department seized the shotgun, one (1) .44 magnum round of ammunition, shotgun rounds, and a set of RTS Tactical Level IV ceramic body armor from Manor's Plattsburgh apartment after responding to a domestic incident there.

Manor was federally prohibited from possessing the firearms and ammunition due to 2014 drug felony convictions for which he was sentenced to five years in state prison.

Mills had been employed as a corrections officer with the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision at Clinton Correctional Facility, but resigned his position following his arrest.

Sentencing is scheduled for December 19, 2024. Mills faces up to 15 years in prison, a fine of up to $250,000, and a term of supervised release of up to 3 years. A defendant's sentence is imposed by a judge based on the particular statute the defendant is charged with violating, the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines, and other factors.

Yesterday, Senior United States District Judge Lawrence E. Kahn sentenced Manor to 57 months in prison and 3 years supervised release for possessing the .410-gauge shotgun and ammunition as a felon.

HSI and the Plattsburgh Police Department investigated this case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Douglas G. Collyer is prosecuting the case.