Glastonbury Man Charged with Federal Gun Offense

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, today announced that ANDREW PAYNE, 40, of Glastonbury, has been charged by federal criminal complaint with unlawfully possessing a firearm while being a user of a controlled substance.

As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, an ATF investigation identified Payne as a possible purchaser of machinegun conversion devices.  In March 2023, investigators interviewed Payne and explained that these devices were illegal under federal law.  Payne arranged through his attorney to turn in to ATF all of the illegal devices he claimed he had in his possession.

It is also alleged that, in the early morning hours of November 29, 2023, Hartford Police responded to a hotel on Brainard Road after hotel employees found a firearm in a hotel hallway.  A hotel employee stated that the hotel guest who possessed the firearm, identified as Payne, had been acting erratically and crawling on the hallway floor.  During a search of Payne’s room, police found used hypodermic needles and other evidence of drug use, and the investigation revealed that the firearm was registered to Payne.  Payne was charged with state offenses and was ordered to surrender his firearms to a Federal Firearms Licensee (“FFL”).  In addition, his state pistol permit was revoked.

It is further alleged that on March 18, 2024, Simsbury Police arrested Payne for violating the conditions of his release after it was determined that Payne had access to numerous firearms, firearm components, and firearm manufacturing equipment found in two units of a business complex at 2 Tunxis Road in the Tariffville section of Simsbury (See photos below).  Investigators conducted searches of the locations on March 19 and March 20, 2024, and seized these items, which included machinegun conversion devices that ATF had advised Payne were illegal to possess.  Payne had also represented in court after his November 2023 arrest that he did not have access to firearms.  A search of Payne’s vehicle also revealed glassine envelopes containing suspected fentanyl, empty glassine envelopes, and used hypodermic needles.

Payne, who was released after his arrest on March 18, has been detained in state custody since March 20, when he was arrested after arriving at 2 Tunxis Road while investigators were executing a search warrant.

Payne made his initial appearance in Hartford federal court on April 11, 2024.

The charge of unlawfully possessing a firearm while being a user of a controlled substance carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years imprisonment.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that a complaint is only a charge and 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 ongoing investigation is being conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Simsbury Police Department, the Hartford Police Department, and the Connecticut State Police.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Margaret Donovan and Christopher Lembo.