A Pawtucket man is facing a charge of providing false information to obtain a firearm after investigators say he lied about having a restraining order against him.
Attorney General Peter Neronha announced on Wednesday that Richard Osoria, 23, was charged with one count of providing false information while attempting to secure a firearm.
Neronha said that Osoria was at a licensed gun store in Pawtucket on February 27 when he was denied a Glock 9mm handgun after a national background check showed that he was not allowed to possess a firearm.
Investigators found that Osoria is subject to a no-contact order with a former girlfriend and had been arrested twice, both times for domestic incidents, in 2022. Under federal law, people convicted of domestic violence and those subject to a restraining order are not allowed to possess a gun or ammunition.
Investigators also said that Osoria lied twice on a federal application by saying that he did not have a court-issued restraining order and that he had not been convicted of domestic violence.
“It is crucial to keep firearms out of the hands of those who are prohibited from possessing them, and in this case, as alleged, our gun laws and our investigators worked in lockstep to successfully prevent that from happening,” said Neronha. “The allegations here — lying and buying — are serious and something our Office has committed itself committed to investigating to help keep our communities safe from gun violence. I want to thank the investigators from our Bureau of Criminal Investigation for their exceptional work here, and the licensed firearms dealer for its cooperation in this case.”
Generative artificial intelligence (AI) assisted a What’sUpNewp journalist with the reporting included in this story.
