Newington Gun Shop Burglar Pleads Guilty In Court: Feds

NEWINGTON/WILLIMANTIC, CT — A 37-year-old Willimantic man has pleaded guilty in federal court for burglarizing a Newington gun store in 2023.

Marc H. Silverman, acting U.S. attorney for Connecticut, said Kwitzpatrick Duffany, 37, formerly of Willimantic, pleaded guilty today in New Haven federal court to firearm and drug offenses stemming from his theft of 38 firearms from the Newington gun store.

According to court documents and statements made in court, on May 27, 2023, during non-business hours, Duffany entered Hoffman’s Gun Store in Newington by climbing onto the balcony over the main entrance.

Silverman said he did so by cutting into the siding with a knife and dropping down from the ceiling.

He said surveillance footage showed Duffany walking through the store and filling duffel bags with 38 guns, then exiting the store through the same hole.

After stealing the guns, Duffany and two other individuals traveled to Hartford where Duffany traded several of the stolen guns for cash and drugs, Silverman said.

In the following days, Duffany sold most of the remaining guns in exchange for cash and narcotics, or he provided guns to other individuals to sell, he said.

Duffany was arrested by the Connecticut State Police in Ashford in the early morning of June 1, 2023.

Surveillance footage from a nearby gas station showed Duffany hiding a satchel in a soda display case shortly before his arrest, wrote authorities.

Investigators recovered the satchel and found a loaded Smith & Wesson 9mm handgun and drugs inside the bag, according to federal officials.

The gun had been stolen from Hoffman’s Gun Store, Silverman said.

Duffany pleaded guilty to one count of theft of firearms from a licensee, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and one count of possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine. This offense carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years.

Sentencing is scheduled for April 28 and Duffany has been detained since his arrest.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Newington Police Department, with the assistance of the Connecticut State Police and the Willimantic Police Department.

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