Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Mickey D. Leadingham, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, today announced that a grand jury in Hartford returned an indictment yesterday charging PATRICK ROGERS, 38, of Waterbury, with one count of possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon.  

 

As alleged in court documents, ATF received information that ROGERS was distributing heroin and was interested in acquiring firearms.  In August and September 2018, an ATF special agent working in an undercover capacity made two controlled purchases of suspected heroin from ROGERS.  ROGERS then agreed to provide a quantity of heroin to the undercover agent in exchange for two firearms.  ROGERS was arrested on September 26, 2018, after he met the undercover agent at a location in Waterbury and took possession of two firearms that he traded for 160 bags of heroin.

 

The indictment alleges that ROGERS was convicted in state court in 1998 of sale of a hallucinogen or narcotic and robbery in the second degree, in 2008 of violation of a protective order, and in 2016 of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute.

 

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.

 

The charge of possession of a firearm by a previously convicted felon carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years.

 

ROGERS has been detained since his arrest.

 

U.S. Attorney Durham stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the Waterbury Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Natasha Freismuth.

 

This case 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.