Woman Also Arrested in Armory Weapons Theft Case

A Dorchester woman was arrested late Friday afternoon for being in possession of an M-4 assault rifle that was stolen from a Worcester armory on Nov. 14, and for making false statements to federal agents, United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz announced.

Ashley Bigsbee, 26, has been charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun and one count of false statements.

Bigsbee was arrested on an outstanding state warrant on Nov. 20.

According to the affidavit, at the time of her arrest on the state warrant, agents recovered her cell phone. When officials searched her phone, they found numerous photographs, including a photograph of Bigsbee with a distinctive hand tattoo, a photograph of what appears to be a stolen Sig Sauer handgun and an M-4 assault rifle.

Prior to her arrest on Nov. 20, Bigsbee voluntarily spoke with FBI agents and denied knowing anything about a robbery of the armory and the guns Morales was allegedly trying to sell. She denied any knowledge of the stolen weapons, according to the announcement.

The photographs were taken at 27 Page Street in Dorchester. A search warrant was executed at this location on Nov. 20 where agents observed distinctive items seen in the photographs. However, no weapons were recovered from this location.

In a related development, the final stolen M-4 was recovered by law enforcement agents in Dorchester on the afternoon of Nov. 27.

Bigsbee had an initial appearance today in U.S. District Court in Worcester before Magistrate Judge David Hennessey. She will remain in U.S. Marshal custody until her detention hearing scheduled for Dec. 3.

On Nov. 19, James Morales was arrested and charged in connection with the theft of 16 weapons from a U.S. Army Reserve Center in Worcester. He was charged with one count of unlawful possession of a machine gun, one count of unlawful possession of stolen firearms and one count of theft of government property. Morales remains in U.S. Marshal custody.