Portsmouth man convicted of gun possession; arrested in Motel 6 parking lot

NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) – A Portsmouth man was sentenced to seven years in prison Thursday for weapons possession.

Ryan Duggan, 41, was arrested on April 24, 2023, in the parking lot of a Motel 6 in Portsmouth on outstanding warrants, court documents show.

When Duggan was arrested, he was working on a red moped in the parking lot. It later turned out that the moped was stolen, as was a motorcycle nearby.

Police had observed Duggan in and around two BMW vehicles and the stolen motorcycle, and police dogs were alerted to both BMW vehicles.

Searches of the BMW vehicles and Duggan’s room at Motel 6 turned up a 9mm pistol with no serial number, ammunition, and suspected narcotics. The pistol was equipped with a machine gun conversion device that turned the pistol into a fully automatic firearm.

One of the BMW vehicles had a North Carolina license plate that could not be linked to the vehicle. Investigators searched the vehicle and found ammunition, a loaded magazine, a pill bottle containing suspected narcotics, a 12-gauge shotgun, a .223-caliber rifle, a .726-caliber rifle, and a 9mm folding stock pistol. The suspected narcotics were later determined to be 13 pills of Gabapentin, 0.5328 grams of methamphetamine, and 10.9 grams of fentanyl.

Duggan has been convicted of a serious crime nine times.