Three Charged in Florida to Connecticut Gun Trafficking Scheme
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and David Sundberg, Special Agent in Charge of the New Haven Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that ERIC WOODIE, 30, of New Britain; DOMINIC COLON-BROWN, 27, of Farmington; and JULIAN JUDGE, 22, of New Britain, have been charged federally with trafficking firearms that were stolen in Florida to Connecticut.
Colon-Brown and Judge were arrested yesterday on criminal complaints. They appeared via videoconference before U.S. Magistrate Judge Thomas O. Farrish and are detained pending detention hearings scheduled for June 1. Woodie has been detained in state custody since March 2021.
As alleged in court documents and statements made in court, in late February 2021, Woodie rented a car, which Judge and Colon-Brown used to drive to Florida to obtain stolen firearms and bring the firearms back to Connecticut. On March 8, 2021, law enforcement recovered a .40 caliber handgun and a high capacity magazine that Woodie discarded during a foot chase in New Britain. A subsequent search of a New Britain apartment where Woodie and Judge resided revealed three additional loaded firearms, two extended magazines, more than 100 rounds of ammunition and approximately 60 grams of cocaine. The serial number on one of the firearms found in the apartment matched the serial number of a firearm that had been stolen in Florida in February 2021.
It is further alleged that Woodie, Colon-Brown and Judge are captured in recorded conversations discussing the illegal acquisition and sale of firearms, and that Judge and Colon-Brown posted photos of themselves on social media in possession of firearms.
Woodie, Colon-Brown and Judge are each charged with conspiring to engage in the business of dealing in firearms without a license and to transport stolen firearms in interstate commerce, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.
Acting U.S. Attorney Boyle stressed that a complaint is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and each defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
This investigation is being conducted by the FBI’s Northern Connecticut Gang Task Force, New Britain Police Department, Farmington Police Department, West Hartford Police Department and Pasco County (Fla.) Sheriff’s Office. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Angel M. Krull.