Constitution State News

Vanessa Roberts Avery, the United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, has announced that Jacquerie Labronze Gibson, also known as "Compton," aged 44 from Hartford, has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Sarala V. Nagala handed down the sentence in Hartford. Following his imprisonment, Gibson will undergo three years of supervised release for his involvement in trafficking firearms and crack cocaine.

Court documents reveal that in August 2021, law enforcement received information about Gibson's activities involving firearms purchased by Jacintre Holley and others on Holley's behalf in North Carolina. It was reported that Gibson was distributing narcotics and sometimes traded them for firearms. He was also converting cocaine into crack cocaine at his apartment on Wethersfield Avenue in Hartford. On August 12, 2021, investigators executed a search warrant at Gibson's residence and found a loaded Taurus Model G3 9mm handgun, additional ammunition, a bulletproof vest, approximately 90 grams of crack cocaine, various items used to process and package narcotics, and $860 in cash. Gibson was present during the search and was arrested.

The investigation revealed that Gibson's firearm source in North Carolina sold him approximately 15 firearms and around 50 firearms to another buyer in Connecticut. To date, at least 16 of these trafficked firearms have been recovered from crime scenes around Connecticut, including one used in a homicide in Middletown on May 16, 2021.

Gibson's criminal history includes felony convictions for drug offenses, burglary, failure to appear offenses, and an assault conviction from April 2005 related to a knife attack on his then-girlfriend. Federal law prohibits individuals previously convicted of a felony from possessing firearms or ammunition that have moved across state or international borders.

Gibson has been detained since his arrest. On August 31, 2023, he pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute cocaine base ("crack") and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

Jacintre Holley was sentenced on February 23, 2023, in the Eastern District of North Carolina to over ten years of imprisonment.

The investigation involved the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), the Middletown Police Department, and the Greenville (N.C.) Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. Pierpont Jr.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which aims to reduce gun violence and other violent crimes through collaboration between law enforcement agencies and communities. In May 2021, the Justice Department launched a strategy to strengthen PSN based on fostering trust within communities, supporting organizations preventing violence before it occurs, setting strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring results.

For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods visit www.justice.gov/psn.