Waterbury Felon Sentenced to 33 Months in Federal Prison for Trading Drugs for Guns
John H. Durham, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that PATRICK ROGERS, 39, of Waterbury, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer in New Haven to 33 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing firearms.
According to court documents and statements made in court, ATF received information that Rogers was distributing heroin and was interested in acquiring firearms. In August and September 2018, an ATF special agent working in an undercover capacity made two controlled purchases of suspected heroin from Rogers. Rogers then agreed to provide a quantity of heroin to the undercover agent in exchange for two firearms. On September 26, 2018, Rogers was arrested after he met the undercover agent at a location in Waterbury and took possession of two firearms that he traded for 160 bags of heroin. Subsequent lab analysis confirmed that the bags contained heroin and fentanyl.
Rogers was convicted in state court in 1998 of sale of a hallucinogen or narcotic and robbery in the second degree, in 2008 of violation of a protective order, and in 2016 of possession of narcotics with the intent to distribute.
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.
Rogers has been detained since his arrest. On January 22, 2018, he pleaded guilty to one count of possession of firearms by a previously convicted felon.
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 case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
