Elyria man sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for illegally having a firearm and ammunition

An Elyria man was sentenced to more than 11 years in prison for illegally having a firearm and ammunition.

Gregory Raymore, 32, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of one count of being a felon in possession of a firearm after a four-day trial.

U.S. District Judge Donald C. Nugent sentenced Raymore to 110 months for the firearm crime. He also sentenced Raymore to an additional two years in prison for violating the terms of his supervised release for a previous crime.

Raymore possessed a .45-caliber handgun and 22 rounds of ammunition. Lorain police officers responded to a fatal shooting in an alleyway outside a bar in May 2018. The murder investigation led to the recovery of a firearm and ammunition near the crime scene that contained Raymore's DNA, although it was not the firearm that caused the death, according to trial testimony.

Raymore was not allowed to possess the firearm or ammunition because of multiple previous convictions, including for aggravated robbery, aggravated burglary, possession of drugs and being a felon in possession of a firearm, according to trial testimony and court documents.

“A man with a long history of crimes was found, as part of a murder investigation, to have a gun and ammunition,” U.S. Attorney Justin Herdman said. “Defendants like this pose a danger to our community and we are safer with him behind bars. The Lorain Police Department and FBI did a tremendous job investigating this case.”

This case was prosecuted as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. PSN was reinvigorated in 2017 as part of the Department’s renewed focus on targeting violent criminals, directing all U.S. Attorney’s Offices to work in partnership with federal, state, local, and tribal law enforcement and the local community to develop effective, locally-based strategies to reduce violent crime.

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Scott Zarzycki and Maggie Kane following an investigation by the Lorain Police Department and FBI.