Man who led police on chase that ended with road covered in ammunition admits to illegal firearm possession

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Acting United States Attorney Sara Miron Bloom said that a Florida man who “frequently” lived in Coventry admitted to illegally possessing a semi-automatic weapon modified to function as a fully automatic machine gun.

44-year-old Joshua Pavao was charged with possession of a machine gun and possession of an unregistered firearm.

In December 2023 Pavao led East Providence police on a high speed pursuit after he allegedly shot multiple rounds and struck a vehicle on Estrell Drive.

The chase ended in a motor vehicle crash which spilled ammunition around multiple roads.

Numerous magazines and rounds were ejected from the vehicle due to the crash, while officers spent hours searching the area and the streets the suspect had driven down for discarded ammunition and firearms.

During the search 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.

A search of a bag Pavao possessed found 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.