Adam Montgomery faces more weapon charges

Mar. 29—Authorities have brought two more sets of firearm charges against Adam Montgomery, the Manchester man facing murder charges in the 2019 disappearance/murder of his daughter Harmony Montgomery.

Issued by a Hillsborough County grand jury, the two sets of charges deal with Montgomery's alleged possession of guns.

The four new charges bookend the disappearance of Harmony, who was last seen in late 2019 at the age of 5 and whose body has never been recovered.

Montgomery, 33, faces two charges stemming from the possession of a handgun in July 2019. The other two charges involve the possession of a rifle between February and August 2020.

Because Montgomery has an extensive felony record, any possession of a firearm is illegal and subjects him to felony prosecution.

In both cases, he faces the charge of armed career criminal. The charge carries a 10- to 40-year sentence, and state law mandates that the 10-year minimum cannot be reduced by a judge. Nor can a judge allow the minimum to be served concurrently with other sentences.

Montgomery is due in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Tuesday for arraignment on the latest charges.

A judge also will likely get an update on the other three existing cases against Montgomery.

A call on Wednesday to Montgomery's lead public defender, Caroline Smith, was not returned.

Montgomery already faces a slew of weapons charges brought against him in April 2022, a few months after his arrest in January 2022 during the early days of the search for Harmony.

The earlier firearm charges stem from the theft of an AR-15 and a shotgun from a Manchester home.

Montgomery has claimed that someone else stole the guns, but his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, has emerged as a key witness against him.

She has pleaded guilty to two counts of perjury and agreed to cooperate with the prosecution.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin May 31 for a trial on the earlier weapons charges. Jury selection in the Harmony murder trial is scheduled for Aug. 2.

But trial dates are fluid, and judges often allow their postponement at the request of lawyers on either side.

Lawyers for both sides have filed numerous papers in the case, nearly all under seal. One involves a request for depositions, a search in lieu of a warrant and comprehensive treatment center records.