Sex offender who failed to register and absconded from community supervision sentenced for illegal gun possession

Seattle - A 40-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 37 months in prison for illegally possessing a loaded "ghost gun," announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Raymond Lawrence Massey was convicted in Clark County, Washington in 2011 of assault with sexual motivation. After serving more than seven years in state custody, he absconded from community supervision and failed to register in King County as a sex offender. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson said, "illegally possessing a firearm is a serious offense."

According to records filed in the case, Massey was convicted of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old while claiming to be armed with a firearm. He was sentenced to 81 months to life in prison and was required to register as a sex offender. Instead, Massey left the area where he was on community corrections and moved to the Seattle area. He did not register as a sex offender. When Department of Corrections officers located him, he had a polymer 9 mm firearm, loaded with a red dot sight on the barrel. The gun was privately manufactured - known as a "ghost gun" as it lacks a serial number which can be traced by law enforcement.

In asking for a guidelines sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court, "Once located, the defendant ran from officers and refused commands to comply with arrest. Once caught, the defendant alerted officers to the fact that he was armed with a non-serialized handgun with an extended capacity magazine and a red dot optic designed to assist with precision aiming. The fact that the defendant committed this offense while on supervision is problematic in and of itself. Further troubling, the defendant had then twice escaped from Department of Corrections supervision for a crime of sexual violence, was not compliant with sex offender registration, was living amongst citizens unaware of the risk he posed to their safety."

Massey will be on three years of federal supervised release following his prison term. He is required to register as a sex offender. Judge Evanson noted that Massey will have the benefit of supervision in the federal system saying, "Our probation officers are extraordinary and want you to succeed" in a crime-free life.

The case was investigated by the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Seattle Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.