Ex-Portland police officer gets 2 months for falsifying app to get machine gun

PORTLAND, Maine - A former Portland police officer was sentenced on Thursday in U.S. District Court in Portland for falsifying an application to acquire a machine gun.

Chief U.S. District Judge Jon D. Levy sentenced Levi Thomas Robinson Jr., 69, to two months incarceration followed by two years of supervised release. Robinson pleaded guilty on June 21, 2023.

According to court records, Robinson was the owner of a federally licensed firearms dealer (FFL), Robinson Arms in North Yarmouth. In October 2022, he provided a falsified letter that included a forged signature of a Portland Police Department official written on department stationery in an attempt to transfer a Kriss USA Inc. Vector Cal. .45 ACP machine gun to Robinson Arms from an FFL in Rockwell, Texas.

An FFL who pays the special occupational tax may acquire samples of post-1986 machine guns in order to demonstrate them to governmental entities for possible purchase. The qualifying FFL must obtain a letter from the governmental entity stating they are interested in having a demonstration of the machine gun for evaluation and possible purchase.

ATF investigated the case.