A Diamond Point man was recently sentenced to eight months in jail for felony firearm possession.

Judge Brent Basden sentenced Stephen C. Massey, 61, on Dec. 2 in Clallam County Superior Court after a two-day jury trial in late October when jurors found Massey guilty of two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree.

Michele Devlin, chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, sought the maximum sentence of one year in prison and for Massey to register as a felony firearm offender, while defense attorney John Hayden asked for a mid-range judgment of eight months.

Along with Massey’s eight-month sentence, Basden also ruled Massey as indigent and that he must register as a felony firearm offender.

The firearms seized by law enforcement will be forfeited, according to Clallam County Prosecuting Attorney Mark Nichols in a press release.

Massey was arrested on Aug. 29 by the Olympic Peninsula Crisis Response Team after they executed a search warrant for his alleged connection to a Carlsborg robbery and burglary.

Judge Elizabeth Stanley issued the warrant on Aug. 22.

During the search, law enforcement found two firearms in Massey’s bedroom, one next to his bed and the other in a nearby drawer next to Massey’s expired driver’s license, Nichols said.

As a convicted felon, he is prohibited from possessing firearms.

Massey faced four to 12 months in jail, despite prior out-of-state offenses involving possession of a firearm by a prohibited offender, Nichols said.

During the evening of July 23, Clallam County Sheriff’s Office deputies reported to the Chevron Gas Station in Carlsborg for a report of a man chasing another man into the store with a firearm.

According to court documents, Massey allegedly approached a vehicle at the gas station with a bulky item on his right hip, believed to be a gun, as a man climbed out through the truck’s window and ran into the station.

Inside, Massey demanded money in the store from the man, but was told to leave, and as he left the vicinity took two cell phones from the man’s truck, court documents state.

Deputies reported that one witness said Massey demanded the man pay him money he was owed after giving it to him to buy methamphetamine.

Deputies stated that because the alleged victim had been living out of his truck, the theft was classified as a burglary; however the initial charges of burglary in the first degree and robbery in the first degree were later taken off, and another charge of unlawful possession of a controlled substance was not filed, according to court documents.

Devlin wrote in an email response that the robbery and burglary charges were taken off because they were “unable to maintain contact with the victim.”

In court, Massey pleaded not guilty to the unlawful firearm possession charges, and testified during trial that he did not know about the firearms as he was only there to take care of his mother with dementia, Nichols said.

Nichols said Devlin and his team “worked hard to obtain these convictions, and for good reason.”

“There is a clear public interest in restricting the ability of felons to possess firearms,” he said.

“Research has repeatedly shown that individuals convicted of crimes, particularly those involving firearms, are many times more likely than law-abiding citizens to commit acts of violence.”

He said Massey’s case shows his office takes firearms crimes seriously and will aggressively prosecute them to promote public safety.