Bridgeport Man Sentenced to More Than 3 Years in Federal Prison for Gun Offense

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that LAMAIN HEARD, 33, of Bridgeport, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 37 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for a federal firearm offense.

According to court documents and statements made in court, June 15, 2021, members of the FBI’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and Bridgeport Police Department investigating gang-related violence and the potential for a retaliation shooting attempted to stop a car in Bridgeport.  The law enforcement vehicles had activated their lights and sirens, and officers exiting the vehicles wore vests bearing the letters “FBI” and “POLICE.”  Instead of stopping, the car drove at the federal law enforcement officers and their vehicles, crashing into three different law enforcement officers’ vehicles and into a civilian motorist.  One officer fired into the car as it headed toward the officer, causing the car to veer into another law enforcement vehicle and, ultimately, to crash into a pole.  Heard, who was a passenger in the car, dropped a semiautomatic pistol in the car and then attempted to flee the scene before he was apprehended.  Subsequent forensic analysis of the firearm revealed that it contained Heard’s DNA.

Heard has previously been convicted of a felony offense and he attended a Project Safe Neighborhoods presentation at which he was informed that a felon caught with a firearm could be prosecuted in federal court.

Heard has been detained since his federal arrest on January 21, 2022.  On June 2, 2022, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon.

The driver of the car has been with assaulting, resisting, or impeding federal officers, and is awaiting trial.  U.S. Attorney Avery 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Bridgeport Safe Streets Task Force and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rahul Kale. the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program and Project Longevity.

PSN, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts, 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.

Project Longevity is a comprehensive initiative to reduce gun violence in Connecticut’s major cities.  Through Project Longevity, community members and law enforcement directly engage with members of groups that are prone to commit violence and deliver a community message against violence, a law enforcement message about the consequences of further violence and an offer of help for those who want it.