Stanwood man sentenced for illegal possession of firearms

Published 1:30 am Friday, July 13, 2018

SEATTLE — A Stanwood man has been sentenced to seven years in prison after being convicted of four federal firearms charges.

Robert A. Stanard, 42, could not legally have firearms because of prior felonies. He was accused of directing his wife to purchase weapons for him, including a military style AR-15 rifle and a Ruger .308 handgun. He also ordered more than 1,000 rounds of ammunition online and parts to construct a silencer, federal prosecutors alleged.

The activity was discovered after Stanard was arrested in October 2016 for domestic violence, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

A U.S. District Court jury deliberated for about two hours before finding him guilty of illegal possession of two firearms, illegal possession of ammunition, illegal possession of an unregistered silencer and conspiracy to obstruct justice.

While incarcerated at the Snohomish County Jail and later at the Federal Detention Center, Stanard sent coded emails and spoke in code on telephone calls to get a family member to retrieve a third pistol that was hidden in his pickup truck, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office news release. The conspirators reportedly called the gun a “CD player” and the family member confirmed in the emails and telephone calls that he had retrieved it and was hiding it from law enforcement.