10-Year Sentence In The Balance In Manchester Hookah Lounge Gun Case

Manchester CT

16 June, 2022

11:11 AM

Description

MANCHESTER, CT — A defendant in a federal case involving a Manchester smoking establishment has entered a plea in court. Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that Michael Jones, 25, of Hartford, entered a guilty plea Wednesday before U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. According to court documents and statements made in court, on July 24, 2021, Jones pointed a firearm at another individual outside a hookah lounge on Broad Street in Manchester. When Manchester Police arrived at the scene, Jones attempted to flee and discarded the gun in the rear parking lot of the lounge, according to case records. Jones was apprehended and the weapon — a loaded Taurus G2C 9mm pistol with an "obliterated" serial number — was recovered, case records show. Prior to July 2021, Jones was convicted at the state level of criminal possession of a firearm. Avery said it is a violation of federal law for someone previously convicted of a felony to "possess a firearm or ammunition that has moved in interstate or foreign commerce." Judge Underhill scheduled sentencing for Sept. 7, at which time Jones faces a maximum prison term of 10 years, Avery said. Jones has been detained since his arrest. Avery said the case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice's "violent crime reduction efforts."