Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TRAEVAUGHNN MORRISON, 27, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by four years of supervised release, for distributing fentanyl and crack while armed with a ghost gun.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 5, 2022, members of the DEA’s Hartford Task Force made a controlled purchase of fentanyl and crack cocaine from Morrison in Bristol. After the drug sale, investigators followed Morrison as he drove his car and then parked in a condominium parking lot, where Morrison was taken into custody. At the time of Morrison’s arrest, investigators found in his car additional quantities of fentanyl and crack, and a Polymer80 handgun (“ghost gun”) with an extended magazine loaded with 21 rounds of ammunition.

Subsequent analysis of the firearm determined that it had been used in two shooting incidents in 2021 in Waterbury and Hartford, where two individuals were injured. The government has no evidence that Morrison participated in either of the shootings.

Morrison’s criminal history includes convictions for felony drug offenses. 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.

Morrison has been detained since his arrest. On August 2, 2023, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute, and distribution of, cocaine base (“crack”) and fentanyl.

The DEA’s Hartford Task Force includes personnel from the DEA Hartford Resident Office, the Connecticut State Police, and the Bristol, Hartford, East Hartford, Enfield, Manchester, New Britain, Rocky Hill, Wethersfield, and Windsor Locks Police Departments. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Pierpont, Jr.