Windsor Man on Federal Supervised Release Charged with Gun and Drug Offenses

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, James Ferguson, Special Agent in Charge, ATF Boston Field Division, and Connecticut State Police Colonel Daniel Loughman today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging ANDRE O. JOHNSON, 28, of Windsor, with firearm and drug offenses.

The indictment was returned on June 25, 2024, and Johnson appeared yesterday in New Haven federal court and pleaded not guilty to the charges.  Johnson has been detained since June 11, 2023, when he was arrested by the Connecticut State Police in Wethersfield on related state charges.

The indictment alleges that, on June 11, 2023, Johnson possessed a Smith & Wesson 9mm pistol, ammunition, and distribution quantities of cocaine and fentanyl.  In April 2022, Johnson was convicted in federal court of drug and firearm trafficking offenses.

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.

The indictment charges Johnson with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years, and unlawful possession of a firearm and ammunition by a felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 15 years.

Johnson was on federal supervised release at the time of the offenses charged in the indictment, and he faces additional penalties if he is found to have violated the conditions of his supervised release.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Connecticut State Police, the Wethersfield Police Department, and the West Hartford Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert S. Dearington.

This prosecution is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce gun violence and other violent crime, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.  For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit www.justice.gov/psn.