Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that MELQUAWN JAMISON, 26, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by two years of supervised release, for a firearm possession offense.
According to court documents and statements made in court, Jamison was arrested on August 23, 2023, after Waterbury Police had made controlled purchases narcotics from him, or from a third party acting at Jamison’s direction, at his residence. On that date, a court-authorized search of Jamison’s residence revealed cocaine and fentanyl that he intended to distribute, a loaded Ruger SR .45 caliber handgun, and a Glock 23 .40 caliber handgun with extended magazine and fitted with a Glock switch auto sear device, which converted the gun to an automatic weapon.
Jamison’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for sale of narcotics, escape in the first degree, burglary in the third degree, and larceny 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.
Jamison has been detained since his arrest. On September 26, 2024, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Waterbury Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Natasha Freismuth.
This prosecution was brought through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program, 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.