Winsted Man Charged with Federal Firearm Offenses

Deirdre M. Daly, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, today announced that a federal grand jury in Hartford has returned a two-count indictment charging JAMES CAVE, 44, of Winsted, with federal firearm offenses.  The indictment was returned on May 20, 2015, and CAVE appeared yesterday before U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna F. Martinez in Hartford and entered a plea of not guilty to the charges.

According to allegations contained in a previously-filed criminal complaint, on April 7, 2015, CAVE met an undercover ATF agent at a location in Torrington and sold him a Webley, model Mark IV .455 caliber revolver in exchange for $700 in cash.  Investigators subsequently determined that the revolver had been stolen from a home in Connecticut.

It is alleged that CAVE sustained a felony conviction in Connecticut state court in October 2003.

The indictment charges CAVE with one count of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years, and one count of dealing firearms without a license, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years.

CAVE was arrested on a criminal complaint on April 30, 2015, and is released on a $100,000 bond.

U.S. Attorney Daly stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and each 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 and the Torrington Police Department.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Gabriel J. Vidoni.