Hartford Man Sentenced to 46 Months in Federal Prison for Illegal Gun Possession

Source: Office of United States Attorneys

Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that OSIRIS MUHAMMAD, 24, of Hartford, was sentenced yesterday by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 46 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a firearm.

According to court documents and statements made in court, shortly after midnight on January 26, 2024, Muhammad fired several shots at an intended victim in the area of Belden Street and Albany Avenue in Hartford.  On January 28, 2024, Hartford Police spotted Muhammad at a liquor store on Albany Avenue.  After a brief pursuit, he was taken into custody.  Officers found him in possession of a Ruger P89 pistol.  Subsequent analysis by the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network (NIBIN) connected the firearm to shell casings collected at the scene of the shooting the day before.

In 2020, Muhammad was convicted in state court of robbery in the first degree.  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.

Muhammad has been detained since his arrest.  On June 28, 2024, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

This investigation was conducted by the Hartford Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Konstantin Lantsman and Daniel Gordon .

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, 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.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.