Burlington Man Gets 46 Months In Planned Attack On Police Station

BURLINGTON, MA -- A Burlington man with a lengthy criminal record was sentenced to 46 months in prison by a U.S. District Court judge Monday. Brendan Sheils, 32, had pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of ammunition in December.

Sheils was arrested on Feb. 22, 2018 after investigators received a tip that he had several guns and ammunition and was planning an attack on the Burlington Police station. Police received a search warrant for the Dennis Drive home where Sheils was living and recovered an AR-15 assault rifle with a loaded 30 round magazine inserted, two large bags of spent shell casings and numerous rifle parts.

Investigators said Sheils had obtained the gun by purchasing its individual parts and assembling it himself. Priscilla Perry, 36, who was in the house at the time of the raid, was arrested on numerous outstanding warrants for shoplifting.

Sheils also faces three years supervised release after he has served his sentence.

In 2013, Sheils's father called Burlington Police to say his son was "out of control" and had a gun, according to police reports. The father called back a short time later to say his son had left the house without the gun. Police eventually found and arrested the younger Sheils on multiple firearms charges. Sheils was also arrested in 2009 and charged with disorderly conduct.

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).