Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that SHAQUIL GARY, 22, of New Haven, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 96 months of imprisonment, followed by five years of supervised release, for robbing an ATF informant.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on August 14, 2014, GARY arranged to meet an ATF informant near the intersection of Lamberton and Button Streets in New Haven to sell the informant a quantity of crack cocaine. Instead, when the two met at the location, GARY pulled out a firearm, took $150 in cash and a cell phone from the informant and fled. Law enforcement officers apprehended GARY later that day at a residence on Winthrop Avenue. By that time, he was no longer in possession of the firearm he used to commit the robbery.

GARY has been detained since his arrest. On July 22, 2015, he pleaded guilty to one count of armed robbery of a person in lawful control of property of the United States.

During today’s sentencing, Chief Judge Hall found that GARY also attempted to obstruct justice after he pleaded guilty. While incarcerated and awaiting sentencing in this matter, GARY made copies of a non-public case report and attempted to send it to friends and family members and instruct them to post it on Facebook and tell others that the individual identified in the report was cooperating with law enforcement officers.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the New Haven Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert Spector.

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