Darin Blackburn, a 43-year-old resident of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, has been sentenced to a total of 231 months in prison. United States District Judge Keli M. Neary imposed the sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and for violating the terms of a previously imposed supervised release.
According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, on November 17, 2021, Harrisburg Police Officers approached Blackburn while he was sitting in a car. An officer noticed a small bag of marijuana visible through the passenger window. The officers called for a K-9 unit to check for narcotics. When the dog began sniffing around the vehicle, Blackburn fled but was apprehended nearby.
After Blackburn was taken into custody, the owner of the car arrived at the scene and denied ownership of any items found in the vehicle but allowed police to search it. During their search, officers discovered a Hermann Weihrauch Arminus .38 caliber revolver loaded with six rounds and an additional thirteen loose rounds in a bag in the trunk.
Blackburn had prior convictions for armed bank robbery and two serious drug offenses committed on separate occasions. Because of these convictions, he was prohibited from possessing firearms and faced a mandatory minimum sentence of fifteen years under the Armed Career Criminal Act.
At the time of this offense, Blackburn was still serving federal supervised release related to two armed bank robberies committed in 2001. He had previously received a sentence of 211 months’ imprisonment followed by three years of supervised release. His term of supervised release began in July 2021 after his release from prison. The court imposed an additional 51-month sentence for violating his supervised release by committing another crime.
“This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime,” according to information provided by authorities.
The Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Harrisburg Bureau of Police investigated this case. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Scalera prosecuted it.
