Section 10E Firearms sales, distributions or transfers; penalties; eligibility for probation, parole, furlough or work release - Massachusetts Statutes

Section 10E. Whoever, except as provided by law, in a single transaction or occurrence or in a series of transactions within a twelve month period, knowingly or intentionally distributes, sells, or transfers possession of a quantity of firearms, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, or any combination thereof, shall, if the quantity of firearms, rifles, shotguns, machine guns, or any combination thereof is:

(1) Three or more, but less than ten, be punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years in the state prison. No sentence imposed under the provisions of this paragraph shall be for less than a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of three years and a fine of not more than fifty thousand dollars may be imposed but not in lieu of the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, as established herein.

(2) Ten or more, but less than twenty, be punished by a term of imprisonment of not more than ten years in the state prison. No sentence imposed under the provisions of this paragraph shall be for less than a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of five years and a fine of not more than one hundred thousand dollars may be imposed but not in lieu of the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, as established herein.

(3) Twenty or more, be punished by a term of imprisonment not less than ten years up to life imprisonment in the state prison. No sentence imposed under the provisions of this paragraph shall be for less than a mandatory minimum term of imprisonment of ten years and a fine of not more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars may be imposed but not in lieu of the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment, as established herein.

A prosecution commenced under this section shall not be placed on file or continued without a finding, and the sentence imposed upon a person convicted of violating any provision of said section shall not be reduced to less than the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment as established in said section, nor shall any sentence of imprisonment imposed upon any person be suspended or reduced until such person shall have served said mandatory minimum term of imprisonment.

A person convicted of violating any provision of this section shall not, until he shall have served the mandatory minimum term of imprisonment established herein, be eligible for probation, parole, furlough, work release, or receive any deduction from his sentence for good conduct under sections one hundred and twenty-nine, one hundred and twenty-nine C and one hundred and twenty-nine D of chapter one hundred and twenty-seven; provided, however, that the commissioner of corrections may, on the recommendation of the warden, superintendent, or other person in charge of the correctional institution, grant to said offender a temporary release in the custody of an officer of such institution for the following purposes: to attend the funeral of a relative, to visit a critically ill relative, or to obtain emergency medical or psychiatric services unavailable at said institution. The provisions of section eighty-seven of chapter two hundred and seventy-six shall not apply to any person, seventeen years of age or over, charged with a violation of said sections, or to any child between the age of fourteen and seventeen, so charged, if the court is of the opinion that the interests of the public require that he shall be tried for such offense instead of being dealt with as a child.