HARRISBURG — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (USAO - Pennsylvania, Middle), published as received.

HARRISBURG – The United States Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania announced that Darin Blackburn, age 43, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, was sentenced to a 231 months’ aggregate imprisonment sentence by United States District Judge Keli M. Neary for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and for violating terms of a previously imposed supervised release sentence.

According to United States Attorney Brian D. Miller, on November 17, 2021, Harrisburg Police Officers approached Blackburn as he sat in a car.  One of the officers observed a small bag of marijuana in plain view through the passenger window of Blackburn’s car.  Those officers summoned a K-9 unit and when the dog began sniffing the car for the presence of narcotics, Blackburn ran from the scene. Officers apprehended him a short distance later. Once Blackburn was taken into custody the owner of the car arrived at the car. The owner denied ownership of anything found in the automobile, but he gave police permission to conduct a search.

During the search police found a Hermann Weihrauch Arminus .38 caliber revolver. There were 6 rounds of ammunition in the gun and 13 loose rounds in a bag in the trunk. Blackburn had previously been convicted of an armed bank robbery and two serious drug offenses that were all committed on occasions different from one another. As such, Blackburn was not legally permitted to possess a firearm and was subject to a 15-year mandatory minimum sentence under the Armed Career Criminal Act. 

At the time of the offense, Blackburn was still serving a federal supervised release term for two armed bank robberies committed in 2001.  Those robberies resulted in a 211 months’ imprisonment sentence to be followed by a 3-year term of supervised release.  Blackburn’s supervised release term commenced in July 2021 upon his release from prison.  The additional 51 months’ imprisonment term was imposed for his violation of the supervised release requirement that he not commit another crime.     

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.

This case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Harrisburg Bureau of Police. Assistant United States Attorney Michael Scalera prosecuted the case.

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