Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that EDWIN CHARON, 30, of West Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Vanessa L. Bryant in Hartford to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing stolen firearms.  CHARON also was ordered to pay a $7,500 fine.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on November 8, 2012, Elliot Perez stole three boxes containing a total of 111 firearms from the Smith & Wesson manufacturing plant in Springfield.  Perez and his cohort, Michael Murphy, were arrested later that month on charges stemming from the theft, but not before they had sold the majority of the firearms into the illicit gun market in and around Bridgeport.

On April 2, 2013, the Bridgeport Police Department arrested an individual who possessed one of the stolen Smith & Wesson handguns.  The investigation revealed that the individual had purchased the gun from CHARON in a storage locker in West Haven to which CHARON had access.  A subsequent search of the storage locker revealed four handguns, including another of the stolen Smith & Wesson handguns, and a stolen Ruger 9mm pistol loaded with a high capacity magazine and containing 17 rounds of ammunition.

CHARON was previously convicted of felony offenses, and 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.

CHARON has been detained since his arrest on April 24, 2013.  On January 15, 2014, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon.

Perez and Murphy have pleaded guilty and await sentencing.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bridgeport Police Department and the Stratford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale.

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