Source: Office of United States Attorneys
Marc H. Silverman, Acting United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that JASON BARBER, 40, of Hartford, pleaded guilty yesterday in Hartford federal court to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on March 2, 2022, law enforcement received information that Barber, while seated in a vehicle, was streaming on Facebook Live and showing off a loaded pistol magazine. Officers located the vehicle, which parked on Barbour Street, and then followed Barber into a package store. Officers approached Barber and retrieved from his coat pocket a Kahr Arms P45 handgun containing a magazine with five rounds of .45 caliber ammunition.
Barber’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for firearm, robbery, drug, and escape 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.
At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Barber faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years. He is released on a $100,000 bond.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Hartford Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Patricia Stolfi Collins.
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.