Hartford Man Guilty Of Federal Gun Charges In Hartford/Wethersfield Incident: Feds

HARTFORD/WETHERSFIELD, CT — A 36-year-old Hartford man was convicted on a federal gun charge last week related to a 2023 fight at a convenience store in the city and a police chase into Wethersfield.

David X. Sullivan, U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said a federal jury in Bridgeport Friday, Aug. 15, found Morris Carter III, also known as “Mo,” 36, of Hartford, guilty of firearm offenses.

According to the evidence introduced during the trial, in the early morning of Feb. 19, 2023, Carter was involved in a fight at a convenience store in the south end of Hartford.

Surveillance footage shows Carter possessing a firearm and beating a convenience store patron in the head with a firearm magazine, which ejected ammunition during the altercation, Sullivan said.

Carter then fled the store, drove toward Wethersfield, and threw two handguns out the car window.

Wethersfield police stopped the car on Nott Street and found a loaded magazine under the passenger seat.

Later that morning, a Wethersfield resident called police after discovering one of the discarded guns at the end of her driveway, according to Sullivan.

Officers responded and found both discarded firearms, a magazine, and ammunition in the area. Investigators also recovered the ammunition from the convenience store, he said.

Carter’s criminal history includes a federal conviction in 2013 for conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute crack cocaine.

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.

Sullivan said the jury found Carter guilty of one count of unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years, and one count of possession of a firearm with an obliterated serial number, which carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

Carter, who was on federal supervised release at the time of this offense, faces additional penalties for violating the conditions of his supervised release, Sullivan said.

Carter has been detained since Feb. 19, 2023.

For more information on the case, click on this link.