Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

New Haven – John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that NYEJIRE REDMOND, also known as “Polo,” 20, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea to approximately 15 months of imprisonment, time already served, and three years of supervised release, for possessing a stolen firearm.

Pursuant to the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), the sentencing occurred via videoconference.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in January 2019, Redmond’s associate, Joel Cruz-Berrios, arranged to trade firearms with an individual in Stamford.  On January 22, 2019, Stamford Police officers arrested Redmond, Cruz-Berrios and Victor Berrios-Sanchez after they traveled from New Haven to a parking garage in Stamford.  Redmond was sitting in the backseat of the vehicle next to a sleeping, unrestrained child who was approximately two years old.  Berrios-Sanchez possessed a loaded .22 caliber revolver, a .25 caliber semi-automatic handgun and three .25 caliber rounds of ammunition, and Redmond possessed a loaded .45 caliber automatic handgun that had been reported stolen in New Britain in December 2018.

Redmond has been detained since his arrest.  On December 5, 2019, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a stolen firearm.

Cruz-Berrios, of New Haven, previously pleaded guilty in federal court to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon and is detained while awaiting sentencing.  Berrios-Sanchez, of New Haven, pleaded guilty in state court to firearm offenses and was sentenced to 31 months of incarceration.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Stamford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Maria del Pilar Gonzalez.

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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