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Press Release
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that WILLIE JACKSON, 27, of New Haven, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Janet C. Hall in New Haven to 84 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for firearm possession and narcotics distribution offenses.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Jackson was arrested on March 27, 2020, after he had absconded from a halfway house while on state parole. At the time of his arrest, he possessed a loaded .40 caliber Ruger handgun with an obliterated serial number, 111 wax folds of fentanyl, and quantities of oxycodone pills and marijuana. The handgun was reported stolen in Bridgeport in 2019.
Jackson’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for assault, robbery and firearm offenses. 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.
Jackson has been detained since his arrest. On April 29, 2022, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearm by a felon and one count of possession with intent to distribute heroin.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the New Haven Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan Keefe through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: Fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.