A Worcester man who pleaded guilty to stealing dozens of firearms from a Hudson gun store that he briefly managed and who was accused of selling some of them to people with ties to the Hells Angels motorcycle club was sentenced Wednesday to just over seven years in prison.
Kevin W. Burke, who is in his early 30s, was sentenced in federal court in Worcester, according to a docket entry in his case. His public defender, Oscar Cruz Jr., could not be reached for comment.
According to prosecutors, Burke stole more than 100 firearms from K&R Target Sports between December 2009 and April 2010.
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In one filing, Cruz wrote that Burke was accused of selling the guns to licensed dealers and private parties, “some of whom had ties to the Hells Angels biker club.”
According to another filing, a prosecutor said that Burke admitted to selling about 25 firearms, but authorities believe he sold more than 50, “and it doesn’t capture all the guns that were taken.”
Numbers listed for the store owner, Raymond J. Carrado, were out of service Wednesday. The store was licensed to sell firearms until September 2010, court records show.
Prosecutors said that Burke maintained a bank account between March 2010 and December 2010 that showed unaccounted income of more than $65,000.
He pleaded guilty in May 2012 to 16 counts of firearm theft from a licensed dealer.
At that hearing, Assistant US Attorney David H. Hennessy said Burke committed the thefts while Carrado was in Florida.
According to a transcript of the hearing, Hennessy said that when Burke was arrested, he told authorities that “this was a crime of stupidity.”
Burke also told one buyer that he was selling off his personal gun collection before going back to Afghanistan, the transcript states.
Prior to working at K&R Target Sports, Burke was a customer and falsely told Carrado that he served in the military and had post-traumatic stress disorder, the indictment said.
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In a letter to Cruz dated Jan. 23, Sharon Johnson, an official at the Wyatt Detention Facility in Central Falls, R.I., said Burke has had no disciplinary infractions since arriving in November 2011. He has also attended Alcoholics Anonymous and rational thinking courses, she said. “Detainee Burke is respectful towards staff and other detainees,” she wrote.
Burke was ordered Wednesday to pay $41,967 in restitution to Carrado.
Travis Andersen can be reached at tandersen@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @TAGlobe.