Attorney General’s Office Investigators charge Massachusetts man in scheme to fake residency to purchase multiple assault-style weapons in RI

Published on Thursday, December 21, 2023

An indictment, information, or complaint is merely an allegation. A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. 

Attorney General Peter F. Neronha today announced that a Massachusetts man has been charged in Second Division District Court in Newport by Attorney General’s Office Investigators with illegally purchasing eight assault-style weapons from licensed firearms dealers in Rhode Island following an investigation by the Office of the Attorney General and law enforcement partners in Massachusetts.

On December 13, 2023, Joshua Rosa-Reyes (age 29) was arraigned by Office of Attorney General Investigators in Second Division District Court in Newport and charged with eight counts of providing false information in securing a firearm and one count of providing false statement to fraudulently obtain license or registration.

As alleged in court documents, the defendant, a resident of Massachusetts, is accused of faking Rhode Island residency to purchase assault-style weapons in an attempt to circumvent Massachusetts’ law banning assault weapons.

“We recruited and built our BCI investigative team for just this purpose: to combat illegal trafficking of firearms using our unique regulatory authority over firearms dealers and long-developed expertise in this area,” said Attorney General Neronha. “Unable to purchase an assault weapon in Massachusetts because of that state’s ban on such weapons, this defendant, a Massachusetts resident, allegedly attempted to purchase such a weapon in Rhode Island by falsely claiming residence here. I thank the investigators from this Office’s Bureau of Criminal Investigation Unit and our federal and Massachusetts law enforcement partners for their exceptional work in this important case, and the licensed firearms dealers for their cooperation.”

As alleged in court documents, the defendant was a target of a joint investigation by state and federal law enforcement into illegal firearms possession and purchases. It is alleged that the defendant is a resident of Fall River, Mass., but provided a false address in Pawtucket to obtain a Rhode Island driver’s license. As further alleged, the defendant provided his false address on state and federal firearms applications at two licensed firearms dealers in Rhode Island to purchase eight assault-style weapons between May and August 2023.

Subsequently, in August 2023, state and federal investigators executed a warrant at the defendant’s Fall River residence and seized 30 firearms, including 16 assault-style weapons, 46 large capacity magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition, including several firearms allegedly purchased by the defendant in Rhode Island.

It is further alleged that investigators subsequently executed warrants at two storage units in Massachusetts belonging to the defendant and seized a Glock-style ghost gun, AK-47 assault weapon, a .357 Magnum revolver, ammunition, over one hundred large capacity feeding devices, and various other gun parts including three lower receivers (considered firearms under federal law), and $10,000 cash.

Investigators Scott Sullivan, Theodore Michael, and Eric Yankee of Attorney General’s Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation led the investigation of the case.