Hartford Felon Who Possessed Loaded Gun While on Federal Supervised Release Sentenced to 4 Years in Prison

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, announced that GABRIEL HORACE WILLIAMS-BEY, 35, of Hartford, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala in Hartford to 48 months of imprisonment, followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a handgun, and for violating the conditions of his supervised release from a prior federal conviction.

According to court documents and statements made in court, Williams-Bey’s criminal history includes a state firearms conviction, multiple state narcotics convictions, and a federal narcotics conviction for which he was sentenced, in June 2016, to eight years of imprisonment and four years of supervised release.  He was released from federal prison in August 2021.

On June 30, 2022, Hartford Police attempted to stop William-Bey’s vehicle.  Williams-Bey fled at a high rate speed, was eventually caught by police, and then attempted to flee again on foot.  After Williams-Bey was apprehended, a search of his vehicle revealed a loaded semi-automatic handgun. 

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.

Williams-Bey has been detained in federal custody since July 12, 2022.  On October 5, 2023, he pleaded guilty to unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Judge Nagala sentenced Williams-Bey to 37 months of imprisonment for the firearm offense, and a consecutive 11 months of imprisonment for violating the conditions of his supervised release.

This matter was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) and the Hartford Police Department.  The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth L. Gresham and Jocelyn Courtney Kaoutzanis through Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), 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.