DEVENS, Mass. — A 62-year-old Shirley man is being held without bail after state police seized dozens of unlicensed firearms, silencers and thousands of rounds of ammunition from his home.
Jeffrey Dusti was arraigned Thursday in Ayer District Court. He was held pending a dangerousness hearing scheduled for Nov. 5. The large-scale firearm bust happened Tuesday at Dusti's home in Shirley.
Dusti is charged with 47 counts of possessing a firearm without a license, 44 counts of possessing a silencer, possessing a loaded firearm without a license, possessing ammunition and possessing a sawed-off shotgun.
The Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit seized approximately 47 unlicensed firearms, 44 silencers "as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition," Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan said.
“The defendant is alleged to not only have been in possession of multiple illegal firearms, but to also have been illegally modifying the guns making them all the more dangerous,” Ryan said. “Simply put, there is no reason that a person with good intentions would require a silencer. Those devices are strictly made for violent and insidious purposes."
Tuesday afternoon, after receiving a tip that Dusti had a homemade silencer, state police executed a search warrant at Dusti's home on Great Road in Shirley.
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When they got to his home, state police saw a sawed-off shotgun in plain view. They also found a cache of weapons including 35,000 rounds of ammunition, Ryan said.
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%At the time of his arrest, Dusti had an open warrant out of Ayer District Court on charges of assault and battery on a person over the age of 60, two counts of making annoying phone calls and witness intimidation connected to an unrelated offense, Ryan said.
The case is being investigated by the Massachusetts State Police Gang Unit, the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Shirley Police Department, State Police assigned to Ryan's office and the Middlesex District Attorney’s Office Special Investigations Unit.
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