Former ACO Pleads Guilty To Gun Charges

Michael Harrington, a former Westford Animal Control Officer pleaded guilty to charges in connection with the theft of several guns and equipment from the Town of Westford, District Attorney Gerry Leone said in a press release Friday.

Harrington, 46, of Tyngsboro, pleaded guilty in Middlesex Superior Court in Woburn to 11 counts of larceny of a firearm, four counts of larceny over $250, two counts of improper storage of a firearm and receiving stolen property. 

According to the press release, "Middlesex Superior Court Judge Maureen Hogan sentenced the defendant to four years in a house of correction followed by five years probation from and after with the conditions that he pays restitution in the amount of $6,018, undergo a drug evaluation and any follow up treatment, ordered to turn in all firearms, Firearms Identification Cards, badges, and uniforms, and must refrain from applying for a License To Carry or a Firearms Identification Card."

“This defendant has now admitted his responsibility for the theft of numerous guns and equipment from the Town of Westford and selling those firearms illegally,” District Attorney Leone said in the release. “By infesting the public with several illegal guns, without regard for how they would be used and by whom, this defendant created very serious public safety risks and dangers. I commend the Westford Police Department, Lowell Police Department, the Massachusetts State Police assigned to the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms, and Boston Police Department for their cooperative collaboration on this case and their continued work to locate the remaining firearms.”

According to authorities, in April, 2010, officials at the Town of Westford School Department’s maintenance facility noticed that expensive equipment and tools were disappearing from the main office. One official suspected that the defendant was responsible for the thefts, the press release stated.

According to Leone, on April 9, officials repositioned the outdoor surveillance cameras at the facility to record the entrance to the garage near the defendant’s office. A town official also conducted an inventory of the remaining equipment at the facility. On April 12, officials discovered that a chain saw valued at $300, a power broom valued at $800, and an impact gun valued at $300, were missing from the garage. Officials reviewed the surveillance video which showed the defendant enter the building at approximately 5:20 p.m. on April 11 and leaving with a power broom in his hand.

When questioned about the stolen tools and firearms, the defendant indicated that the guns were secured in a cabinet in his office, Leone's office said.

Westford police executed a search warrant on the defendant’s home and recovered the power broom.  Police also searched the defendant’s office and determined that the 11 firearms issued to the defendant and his department were missing and that the defendant did not have a locked cabinet or trigger locks in his office.

On Friday April 9, Lowell Police arrested an Alberto Ramos for possession of a firearm without a license, possession of a loaded firearm without a license and carrying a firearm without a FID card. The firearm was determined to be one of the missing firearms from the Town of Westford.

In August of 2010, The Boston Police Department, in an unrelated case,  executed a search warrant within the City of Boston and recovered a firearm that was determined to be one of the firerams stolen by Harrington.

Two additional stolen firearms have been recovered. Investigators are working to recover the remaining seven firearms the defendant stole and then distributed. Authorities determined that the defendant sold some of the stolen property in exchange for drugs, the District Attorney's office said.

Harrington was indicted on May 28 by a Middlesex Superior Court Grand Jury.  Harrington was arraigned later that day in Ayer District Court on the firearm charges related to the indictments. He was arraigned in Middlesex Superior court in Woburn on June 24 where Clerk Magistrate Matthew Day held Harrington on $5,000 cash bail with the conditions that he stays away from the Westford School Department’s maintenance facility.

The Westford Animal Control Officers position is not affiliated with the Westford Police Department. 

Information in this report was provided through a press release from the District Attorney's office.