Meriden Man Sentenced To Federal Prison For Selling Stolen Firearms

David B. Fein, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that COREY WILLIAMS, JR., also known as “Little Corey,” 24, of Meriden, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Janet Bond Arterton in New Haven to 20 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for selling stolen firearms.

According to court documents and statements made in court, WILLIAMS told his father, Khalid Aziz, that he had stolen multiple firearms from a Meriden gun store and was having trouble selling some of the “big guns.”  Aziz put WILLIAMS in touch with Airess Johnson, who knew someone interested in purchasing firearms.  The potential purchaser was an individual cooperating with law enforcement, and that cooperator negotiated a purchase price for three firearms with Williams.

At approximately 8:30 p.m. on February 2, 2012, WILLIAMS, Aziz, and Johnson drove to the parking lot of a New Haven restaurant.  After WILLIAMS and Aziz exited the vehicle and waited in front of a nearby store, the cooperator purchased two 12 gauge shotguns and a .308 caliber semi-automatic rifle from Johnson in exchange for $1,200.  After the transaction, WILLIAMS, Aziz, and Johnson departed together.  WILLIAMS then paid Aziz approximately $50 for his role in facilitating the sale of the three firearms.

Law enforcement officers later recovered the three firearms from the cooperator’s vehicle.  All three had been reported stolen from a federal firearms licensee in Meriden on November 5, 2011.

The owner and employees of the Meriden gun dealer subsequently identified WILLIAMS as someone who had been in the store prior to the theft of nine firearms from the store.  On May 25, 2012, at WILLIAMS’s residence, law enforcement officers recovered a gun box for one of the six additional stolen firearms, as well as two boxes of ammunition, a ballistic vest carrier, and two rifle magazines.

The six additional firearms that were stolen from the Meriden gun dealer have not been recovered.

On November 2, 2012, WILLIAMS, pleaded guilty to one count of sale of stolen firearms.  He had no prior criminal history.

On October 22, 2012, Aziz pleaded guilty to the same charge.  On January 10, 2013, Aziz, whose criminal history included at least 19 felony convictions, was sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment.

Johnson, 35, of New Haven, pleaded guilty on July 3, 2012, to one count of possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon.  On January 3, 2013, she was sentenced to 20 months of imprisonment.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, with substantial assistance provided by the New Haven Police Department and the Meriden Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marc H. Silverman.

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