Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Hartford Man Sentenced to 27 Months in Federal Prison for Possessing Loaded Firearm


John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that CLETUS JONES, 39, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Victor A. Bolden in Bridgeport to 27 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a loaded handgun.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on January 23, 2018, Hartford Police officers responded to a two-car motor vehicle accident near Elizabeth Park.  At the scene, officers learned that Jones had gone into the park and placed something near a tree.  A search of the area uncovered a loaded Taurus .38 semi-automatic handgun.  Subsequent analysis of the gun revealed Jones’ DNA profile.

Jones’ criminal history includes felony convictions for possession of narcotics, failure to appear in the first degree, robbery in the first degree and carjacking.  It is a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a felony offense to possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce.

Jones has been detained since his arrest on August 2, 2018.  On August 7, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon.

This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Northern Connecticut Violent Crimes Gang Task Force and the Hartford Police Department.  The Task Force includes members of the Hartford Police Department, East Hartford Police Department, Connecticut State Police and Connecticut Department of Correction.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson.

This prosecution has been brought through 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.

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