Source: United States Department of Justice News
Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that on July 29, 2022, MICHAEL SIMPSON, 33, of Bloomfield, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Alvin W. Thompson in Hartford to 24 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for distributing heroin and illegally selling a firearm.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 22, 2018, Hartford Police arrested Simpson who was selling drugs from his car while parked at a car wash on Homestead Avenue in Hartford. At the time of his arrest, Simpson possessed distribution quantities of heroin, fentanyl, cocaine, crack cocaine and marijuana; a loaded Taurus .380 caliber handgun, and $2,664 in cash.
Simpson’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for firearm, robbery and drug 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.
On February 25, 2021, Simpson pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of possession of a firearm by a felon.
Simpson, who is released on bond, is required to report to prison on August 29.
This matter was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Violent Crime Task Force and the Hartford Police Department. The case was 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.