New Haven Man Gets Prison For Having Gun On Supervised Release: Feds

NEW HAVEN, CT — Shaquil Gary, 31, of New Haven, was sentenced Tuesday in U.S. District Court to 66 months, or 5.5 years, in federal prison for possessing a gun while on supervised release, according to Marc H. Silverman, Acting U.S. Attorney for Connecticut.

According to Silverman, court documents and statements made in court, in January 2016, Gary was sentenced in New Haven federal court to 96 months of imprisonment and five years of supervised release for committing an armed robbery of an ATF informant in August 2014.

After pleading guilty and while awaiting sentencing, "Gary attempted to send a copy of a non-public case report to friends and family members with instructions to post it on Facebook and tell others that an individual identified in the report was cooperating with law enforcement officers," Silverman said.

In April 2022, a white SUV was identified as being involved in shooting incidents in New Haven and Hamden, the US Attorney said. On April 19, 2022, investigators saw Gary exit the SUV after parking it on Shelton Avenue, then run from pursuing officers and discarded a firearm during the chase, Silverman said. Gary was caught on Hazel Street, and officers recovered a loaded Glock model 17, 9mm pistol, that he had thrown, the federal prosecutor said.

According to Silverman: The handgun, reported stolen in Waterbury in 2018, was connected it to multiple gang-related shooting incidents in early 2019 while Gary was incarcerated in federal custody. One was a shooting near Eastern Street in New Haven on January 23, 2019, where a suspected member of the Exit 8 gang of New Haven was found suffering from a gunshot wound. Another was a shot-fired incident near Eastern Street in January 2019, where a witness observed a male firing a handgun from a car and into the front window of an apartment. Another was the shooting of two individuals near Shelton Avenue on February 5, 2019.

Gary’s criminal history also includes state felony convictions for the sale and possession of narcotics, court records show. 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, Silverman said.

On September 4, 2024, Gary pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

This case was investigated by the ATF and the New Haven and Hamden police departments. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Dearington.