DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
District of Connecticut

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, January 15, 2020
John H. Durham
, United States Attorney
Contact: Tom Carson

Hartford Man With Violent Criminal History Returns to Prison for Illegally Possessing Ammunition

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TYSHAWN COLEMAN, 30, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing ammunition.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in the early morning hours of August 5, 2017, Hartford Police stopped a car after a witness had reported that the car was involved in a fatal shooting on Edgewood Street less than 30 minutes earlier.  Coleman was sitting in the front passenger seat.  An officer conducted a pat-down of Coleman and retrieved two clear zip-lock bags from his pocket.  One of the bags contained marijuana, and the other contained a .45 caliber bullet. 

Prior to August 2017, Coleman had sustained two felony convictions for conspiracy to commit murder, three felony convictions for accessory to first-degree assault, one felony conviction for first degree assault, and one felony conviction for sale of a controlled substance.

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.

Coleman has been detained since his arrest.  On October 24, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hartford Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael J. Gustafson.

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.

Boston Field Division