Bridgeport Man Sentenced to 7 Years in Prison for Third Federal Gun Conviction

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that FEDERICO CANNON, also known as “Rico,” 36, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a previous federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on June 26, 2017, Cannon was released from federal prison after serving a 70-month sentence for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.  On July 31, 2017, while Cannon was on federal supervised release, Bridgeport Police received information that Cannon had a gun and was riding in a car in the area of the Trumbull Gardens housing complex in Bridgeport.  Officers located and stopped the vehicle.  After Cannon was removed from the car, officers located a 9mm semi-automatic SAR B6P handgun from the floor below the passenger seat where Cannon had been sitting.  The gun was loaded with 16 rounds of ammunition.

Cannon has been detained since his arrest on July 31, 2017.  On July 9, 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

Judge Underhill sentenced Cannon to 60 months of imprisonment for the firearm offense, and a consecutive 24 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

This is Cannon’s third federal conviction for possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.

In the early morning hours of October 21, 2004, Cannon was in a car with three other individuals driving northbound on Interstate 95 between Norwalk and Bridgeport when they initiated a confrontation with another car occupied by two men.  The confrontation culminated at the bottom of the Exit 25 ramp in Bridgeport when approximately seven or eight shots were fired at the victims’ vehicle.  A subsequent search of the vehicle in which Cannon was a passenger revealed a semi-automatic pistol at Cannon’s feet in the right rear passenger seat of the vehicle.  A jury in New Haven found Cannon guilty and, on April 12, 2006, he was sentenced to 42 months of imprisonment.

In the early morning hours of February 25, 2012, Bridgeport Police stopped a vehicle in which Cannon was a passenger on Caroline Street in Bridgeport.  Cannon initially exited the vehicle and attempted to walk away, but police ordered him back into the car.  After directing the driver out of the vehicle, a Bridgeport Police detective observed a 9mm semi-automatic pistol on the floor of the rear passenger area near where Cannon was sitting.  The firearm was loaded with 10 live hollow-point cartridges and two full-metal jacket cartridges.  A jury in Hartford found Cannon guilty and, on July 11, 2014, he was sentenced to 70 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release.

Cannon also has a state conviction stemming from a car stop by Bridgeport Police on June 6, 1999.  On that date, officers located a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun concealed under the right front passenger seat where Cannon had been sitting.

This matter was investigated by the Bridgeport Police Department’s Tactical Narcotics Team and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

This prosecution 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.