A Northampton man has pleaded guilty in federal court to firearm and narcotics charges. Gabriel Lebron, 35, entered his plea before U.S. District Court Judge Mark G. Mastroianni in Springfield. Sentencing is scheduled for January 15, 2025.
Lebron admitted to one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition, as well as one count of possession with intent to distribute cocaine base and heroin. Authorities responded on April 9, 2025, to a report of a man displaying a firearm at the Howard Johnson hotel lobby in Hadley. Officers found Lebron carrying a loaded Jimenez Arms Model JA 25 pistol with five rounds of .25 caliber ammunition—one round was chambered—as well as ten “snap caps” containing crack cocaine and two bundles of heroin. He was taken into custody at the scene.
At the time of his arrest, Lebron was under federal supervised release following a Vermont conviction for possessing a loaded ghost gun equipped with a laser sight and multiple rounds of ammunition. In that case, he had been sentenced in 2023 to 27 months in prison and three years of supervised release.
The charge for being a felon in possession carries up to 15 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and up to $250,000 in fines. The drug charge includes a mandatory minimum sentence of three years and could result in up to 20 years’ imprisonment, up to five years’ supervised release, and fines reaching $1 million. Sentences will be determined by the court based on federal guidelines.
“United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Bryan DiGirolamo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, Boston Feld Division made the announcement today. Valuable assistance provided by the Hadley Police Department and the Massachusetts State Police. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven H. Breslow of the Springfield Branch Office is prosecuting the case.”
