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Man charged with firearms possession

Man charged with firearms possession

A man described as the head of a Washington County sports betting ring two years ago was indicted Wednesday -- this time in federal court on a firearms charge.

Michael R. "Mickey" Flynn Jr., 64, is charged with possessing a firearm while a convicted felon. Prosecutors say Mr. Flynn had six firearms in his possession on Jan. 19.

That's the day agents with the state police and state attorney general's office executed 10 search warrants in an ongoing investigation of illegal gambling.

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Mr. Flynn, who owns the Union Grill on Wheeling Street in Washington, Pa., allegedly had four handguns, a 12-gauge shotgun, a semiautomatic assault rifle and three types of ammunition that day.

The U.S. attorney's office would not say where the weapons were seized.

Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty in February 2004 to two misdemeanor counts of pool-selling and bookmaking and conspiracy in Washington County Common Pleas Court.

He was ordered to serve five months in jail and an additional 18 months on parole. However, according to court records, Mr. Flynn was granted parole before his jail sentence began.

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Though the charges Mr. Flynn pleaded guilty to are misdemeanors under state law, the federal government recognizes them as felonies because they were punishable by more than one year in prison.

Yesterday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan T. Conway asked that Mr. Flynn be held in jail pending the outcome of the case because he considers him to be a flight risk. Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Francis X. Caiazza will hold a detention hearing on the matter today.

Mr. Flynn's name came up in court this week in relation to an ongoing case against convicted video poker operator John "Duffy" Conley.

At a detention hearing for Mr. Conley on Wednesday, an agent with the state attorney general's office said that Mr. Conley had been associating with known felons and organized crime figures. The agent mentioned several names, including Mr. Flynn's.

Mr. Conley was arrested this month for violating his federal supervised release. He served nine years in prison for illegally operating hundreds of video poker machines in the area and was released in January 2004.

First Published: February 10, 2006, 5:00 a.m.

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