Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Waterbury Felon Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison for Possessing Handgun on Federal Supervised Release
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DESI WILLIAMS, 40, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 42 months and one day of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm while on federal supervised release.
According to court documents and statements made in court, in the afternoon of January 28, 2019, Waterbury Police officers attempted to stop a car Williams was driving at the intersection of Brass Mill Drive and Union Street for motor vehicle violations. When an officer approached the car on foot, Williams accelerated and fled from the scene. During a subsequent pursuit, Williams rammed three police vehicles before crashing his car into a utility pole on Walnut Street. Williams ran from the car, jumped over a fence and was eventually apprehended on Ives Street. A search of Williams’s car revealed a loaded Smith & Wesson .22 caliber revolver.
In 2016, Williams was convicted in federal court of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, and he was on federal supervised release in January 2019. Prior to 2016, Williams was convicted in state court of felony robbery, burglary and failure to appear offenses.
Williams has been detained since January 28, 2019. On June 11, 2020, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
Judge Hall sentenced Williams to 30 months of imprisonment for the new firearm offense, and a consecutive 12 months and one day of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Waterbury Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis and Peter D. Markle.
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.