A Sharpsburg man whose home and property were searched last fall by dozens of Maryland State Police and other law enforcement officers looking for illegally possessed firearms received a one-year suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty to two charges Thursday in Washington County Circuit Court.
Terry A. Porter, 46, of 4433 Mills Road, also was placed on unsupervised probation for two years by Judge Dana Moylan Wright. She ordered him to pay $175 in court costs, but did not fine Porter.
“I understand these firearms (belonged to) family members,” Wright told Porter. “They were not even yours.”
Porter declined to comment after the sentencing.
“He’s got tremendous community support behind him ... He’s an outstanding member of the community,” defense attorney Rob Kamrad told Wright before sentencing. “He, and perhaps more so, his family, have suffered greatly” because of the criminal charges, Kamrad said.
A self-employed welder, Porter was indicted on seven counts each of possession of rifles or shotguns by a convicted felon and possession of firearms after being convicted of a disqualifying offense. He pleaded guilty to one count of each offense and the rest were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.