Hartford Man Pleads Guilty to Federal Firearm Charge

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that ANTHONY PENA, 25, of Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 24, 2018, acting on informant information, members of the Hartford Police Department responded to the area of 862 Albany Avenue.  There, they found Mr. Pena in the driver’s seat of a parked vehicle.  A search of the vehicle revealed a loaded Glock 21 .45 caliber firearm with an extended magazine.  The firearm had been reported stolen in North Carolina in 2012.

In May 2012, Pena was convicted in state court of robbery in the first degree and conspiracy to commit robbery in the first degree.  In May 2014, he was convicted of failure to appear in the first degree.

Judge Arterton scheduled sentencing for October 9, 2019, at which time Pena faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

Pena has been detained since his federal arrest on June 24, 2018.

This matter is being investigated by the FBI’s Connecticut Violent Crime Task Force and the Hartford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer R. Laraia.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.