Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that GIOVANNI SIERRA, 29, of New London, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Stefan R. Underhill in Bridgeport to 60 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to court documents and statements made in court, on April 15, 2021, New London Police observed Sierra conducting what appeared to be a narcotics transaction from his car. Investigators subsequently stopped Sierra’s car for a motor vehicle violation. A search of the car revealed a privately made handgun (“ghost gun”) loaded with an extended magazine, distribution quantities of crack cocaine and fentanyl, two digital scales, and other narcotics paraphernalia.
Sierra has been detained since his federal arrest on May 11, 2021. On February 16, 2022, he pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
This investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the New London Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Natasha M. Freismuth through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program
PSN is 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.
