Department of Justice
For Immediate Release
Wolcott Man Sentenced to Prison for Illegally Manufacturing and Dealing Ar-15-Style Assault Rifles
NEW HAVEN, Conn. — Vanessa Roberts Avery, U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that Gregory Leary, 35, of Wolcott, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 30 months of imprisonment, followed by 2 years of supervised release, for manufacturing and dealing AR-15-style firearms without a license. Judge Underhill also ordered Leary to pay a $2,000 fine.
According to court documents and statements made in court, between January and March 2022, Leary received Polymer80 firearms kits from another individual and assembled them in the basement of his Wolcott residence. On three occasions during that period, Leary provided to that individual eight AR-15-style assault rifles with collapsible stocks and 30-round magazines; a “P80” 9mm semi-automatic handgun with a fully loaded, 10-round magazine; 190 rounds of .223 ammunition; one “Magtec” box containing 50 rounds of .40 caliber ammunition; and one “Independence” box containing 50 rounds of 9mm ammunition. The assault rifles and 9mm handgun contained no serial numbers.
Leary pleaded guilty on June 13 and admitted that he manufactured and dealt a total of more than 25 firearms to the same individual knowing that the individual was selling the firearms to others.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Connecticut State Police Statewide Firearms Trafficking Task Force and Statewide Urban Violence Cooperative Crime Control Task Force (Gangs Unit), assisted by the Statewide Narcotics Task Force Southwest and North Central Offices, and the Bridgeport, Shelton, Orange, Waterbury, and Hartford Police Departments.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Tara E. Levens and Rahul Kale through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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