Vernon Man Involved in Firearm Burglary of Stafford Pawn Shop is Sentenced
Leonard C Boyle, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that DAMIEN GARCIA, 34, of Vernon, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Michael P. Shea in Hartford to five years of probation for a firearm offense stemming from a Stafford pawn shop robbery in 2019.
Garcia also has pleaded guilty to related charges in state court, where he faces a 66-month sentence.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on September 15, 2019, the Connecticut State Police received a report that the Simon Says Pawn Shop, a Federal Firearms Licensee in Stafford, had been burglarized the previous evening and that several firearms had been stolen. Investigators subsequently determined that seven handguns were missing from the store. On September 17, Vernon Police developed information that Garcia was involved in the burglary and was in possession of a firearm. That evening, after officers approached Garcia and his associate, Lawrence McEwen, on West Main Street in Vernon, Garcia and McEwen attempted to flee before. After both were apprehended, officers recovered a .40 caliber Smith and Wesson pistol that McEwen discarded as he ran away. The firearm was one of the seven stolen from the Simon Says Pawn Shop on September 14.
The investigation revealed that Garcia sold the other stolen firearms to three separate drug dealers in Hartford in exchange for drugs and cash.
Garcia has been detained since his federal arrest on September 23, 2019. On December 9, 2020, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm by a convicted felon.
On May 12, 2021, McEwen, of Vernon, pleaded guilty to possession of a stolen firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2.
This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Connecticut State Police, Vernon Police Department and Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney David J. Sheldon.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN 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.