[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] The U.S. Court of Appeals upheld suspending 2020 RI mail vote witnesses on Aug. 7.

[CREDIT: Rob Borkowski] The U.S. Court in Providence, RI. A Florida man admitted Feb. 26 that he possessed one of three semi-automatic guns illegally modded into fully automatic machine guns.

PROVIDENCE – A Florida man who frequently lived in Coventry, RI admitted to a federal judge Wednesday that he illegally possessed a semi-automatic weapon modified to function as a fully automatic machine gun, according to Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom.

Joshua Pavao, 44, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Providence to a charge of possession of a machine gun and a charge of possession of an unregistered firearm. The unregistered firearm was also modified to be a machine gun and had a barrel length of 10 and 5/8 inches, substantially less than the 16 inches required by law.

Shots Fired, High-Speed Chase, Illegally Modded Machine Gun

In December 2023, Pavao engaged East Providence Police in a high-speed car chase that resulted in multiple motor vehicle crashes as they were investigating a report of shots fired. Pavao fled on foot from his vehicle but was quickly apprehended. During the chase officers discovered a total of three loaded firearms and a multitude of ammunition and loaded pistol magazines from inside the vehicle, spilled out onto the roadway, and in a bag Pavao stashed near a residence.

Shortly after Pavao’s arrest, Coventry Police Department and East Providence Police Department Detectives and ATF agents executed a court-authorized search of a duffle bag belonging to Pavao that was stored inside a garage at the Coventry residence where Pavao was staying. From inside the duffle bag, law enforcement seized eight long guns, four of which were outfitted with an auto sear machine gun conversion device rendering them machine guns.

Pavao is scheduled to be sentenced on June 5, 2025. The sentence imposed will be determined by a federal district judge after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Paul F. Daly, Jr.

The matter was investigated by the East Providence Police with valuable assistance from Coventry Police and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Author: Rob Borkowski

Rob has worked as reporter and editor for several publications, including The Kent County Daily Times and Coventry Courier, before working for Gatehouse in MA then moving home with Patch Media. Now he's publisher and editor of WarwickPost.com. Contact him at editor@warwickpost.com with tips, press releases, advertising inquiries, and concerns.

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