Hartford Firearms & Crack Cocaine Trafficker Sentenced To Prison
Sunday, January 5, 2025, 10:00 A.M. ET. 2 Minute Read, By Art Fletcher: Englebrook Independent News,
HARTFORD, CT. On Friday, January 3, 2025, Jacquerie Labronze Gibson, also known as “Compton,” 44, of Hartford, Connecticut, appeared in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut and was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Sarala V. Nagala to 144 months, immediately followed by three years of supervised release, for his conviction of federal Firearms and Crack Cocaine Trafficking offenses.
According to U.S. Attorney Vanessa Roberts Avery and charging documents filed with the District Court, in August 2021, Connecticut and North Carolina law enforcement agencies received information that Gibson was trafficking firearms that had been purchased by Jacintre Holley and other individuals on Holley’s behalf, in North Carolina.
Gibson was also distributing illicit narcotics, which, at times, he traded for firearms. During a subsequent investigation, police learned that Gibson was cooking cocaine powder into crack cocaine at his Wethersfield Avenue apartment in Hartford, Connecticut.
Police Officers Execute Search Warrant On Gibson’s Apartment
On August 12, 2021, investigators obtained and executed a court-authorized search warrant at Gibson’s Hartford residence. During the search, investigators found and seized a loaded Glock 9mm handgun, additional ammunition, a bulletproof vest, around 90 grams of crack cocaine, various items used to process and package illicit narcotics, and $860 in U.S. currency in denominations consistent with narcotics sales. Gibson was in the apartment at the time of the search and was immediately taken into custody.
Investigation Uncovers Firearms Trafficking
The investigation uncovered that Gibson’s firearms source in North Carolina had sold around 15 illegally purchased firearms to Gibson and another 50 or so firearms to another buyer in Connecticut. To date, at least 16 of the firearms have been recovered from crime scenes and investigations in Connecticut, including one that was used in a homicide in Middletown, Connecticut, on May 16, 2021.
Gibson has a lengthy criminal history, including felony convictions for drug, burglary, and failure to appear offenses, and a conviction in April 2005 for first-degree assault stemming from a knife attack on his girlfriend at that time.
Federal law prohibits a person previously convicted of a felony from owning or possessing firearms and ammunition. At the time of his August 12, 2021, arrest, Gibson knew he was a prohibited person.
Gibson has been in federal custody since his initial arrest and pleaded guilty on August 31, 2023, to Possession with Intent to Distribute Crack Cocaine; and Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon. On February 23, 2023, Gibson’s co-defendant, Holley, was sentenced in the Eastern District of North Carolina to 127 months in federal prison for his role in the case.
