DOJ Seal

Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney's Office
District of Connecticut

For Immediate Release

Wednesday, June 18, 2014
Deirdre M. Daly
, United States Attorney
Contact: Tom Carson, Public Information Officer

Hartford Man Indicted For Illegally Possessing Sawed-Off Firearm and Bullet Proof Vest

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury sitting in Hartford has returned an indictment charging KIEJUAN HAUGABOOK, 35, of Hartford, with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, one count of possession of a sawed-off firearm by a convicted felon, and one count of possession of body armor by a violent felon. The indictment was returned on June 11 and was unsealed today during HAUGABOOK’s arraignment before U.S. Magistrate Judge Joan G. Margolis in New Haven.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, HAUGABOOK escaped from a halfway house in Hartford. On February 3, 2014, a parole officer found him in an apartment in Hartford. Upon entering the apartment, the parole officer noticed a firearm in plain view and contacted the Hartford Police Department. Hartford Police arrived on the scene and seized a Harrington & Richardson, Model Topper 158, firearm with a sawed-off barrel, as well as ammunition, a Point Blank ballistic vest and a stun gun.

The indictment alleges that HAUGABOOK has previous state convictions for first and third degree robbery, possession of narcotics and carrying a pistol without permit. 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. It is also a violation of federal law for a person previously convicted of a violent felony offense to possess body armor that has moved in interstate commerce.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ndidi Moses and Brian Leaming.

U.S. Attorney Daly 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.

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Boston Field Division