Bridgeport Felon Found with Loaded Ghost Gun While on Supervised Release Pleads Guilty

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that TIMOTHY STATON, 28, of Bridgeport, pleaded guilty today before U.S. District Judge Omar A. Williams in Hartford to unlawful possession of ammunition by a felon, and to violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, in September 2018, Bridgeport Police officers arrested Staton after he discarded a 9mm handgun during a pursuit.  Staton, who had previously been convicted in state court of narcotics, firearm, and racketeering offenses, subsequently pleaded guilty in federal court to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon and, on June 3, 2019, was sentenced to 37 months of imprisonment and three years of supervised release.  He was released from federal prison in May 2022.

On December 13, 2022, Bridgeport Police officers arrested Staton after they found him in possession of a loaded semi-automatic 9mm privately manufactured firearm (“ghost gun”).

At sentencing, which is not scheduled, Staton faces a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years for the firearm offense, and an additional penalty for the violating the conditions of his supervised release.  Staton has been detained since his arrest.

This matter has been investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Bridgeport Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis through the Justice’s Department’s Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN) program.

PSN, the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts, 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.